The Writer, Like The Murderer, Needs A

Journalists Justify Their Treachery In Various Ways According To Their Temperaments. The More Pompous Talk About Freedom Of Speech And ‘the Public’s Right To Know’; The Least Talented Talk About Art; The Seemliest Murmur About Earning A Living.

[richard Avedon's] Camera Dwells On The Horrible Things That Age Can Do To People's Faces - On The Flabby Flesh, The Slack Skin, The Ugly Growths, The Puffy Eyes, The Knotted Necks, The Aimless Wrinkles, The Fearful And Anxious Set Of The Mouth, The Marks Left By Sickness, Madness, Alcoholism, And Irreversible Disappointment.

Fidelity To The Subject's Thought And To His Characteristic Way Of Expressing Himself Is The Sine Qua Non Of Journalistic Quotation.

The Dominant And Most Deep-dyed Trait Of The Journalist Is His Timorousness. Where The Novelist Fearlessly Plunges Into The Water Of Self-exposure, The Journalist Stands Trembling On The Shore In His Beach Robe. The Journalist Confines Himself To The Clean, Gentlemanly Work Of Exposing The Grieves And Shames Of Others.

[y]ou Never Come Right Out And Admit You Have Stretched The Rules For Your Own Benefit. You Do It And Shut Up About It, And Hope You Don't Get Caught, Because If You Are Caught No One Or No One Who Has Any Sense Will Come Forward And Say He Has Done The Same Thing Himself.