“When a figure in power calls our press the enemy of the people, it is an assault on democracy.”— Jeff Flake
“As an organ of enlightened opinion, the press, when duly restrained, must be cherished as the guardian of civil and religious liberty.”— DeWitt Clinton
“The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm.”— Thomas Babington Macaulay
“In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy.”— Hugo Black
“The press is the only institution that can enable the public to control the government.”— Benjamin Constant
“If the newspapers of a country are filled with good news, the jails of that country will be filled with good people.”— Daniel Patrick Moynihan
“It is a tribute to the First Amendment that we do not have an Official Secrets Act in this country.”— Daniel Ellsberg
“The press is an imperfect institution, but it's essential. It's not the enemy of the people.”— Jane Mayer
“The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.”— George Mason
“The free press is not free. It is owned by a handful of corporations that have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.”— Mark Crispin Miller