Life & Wisdom Quote by Nicholas D. Kristof

Kristof is doing a small act of reputational triage: he’s not just talking about word choice, he’s trying to renegotiate the social contract between journalist and reader. The opening clause, “I try to be careful about wording,” reads like a modest craft note, but it’s really a preemptive defense against a familiar accusation that the press is glib, ideologically preloaded, or more interested in winning arguments than informing people. “Wording” here isn’t style; it’s ethics, power, and—crucially—tone.

The second sentence gives away the real battlefield. He names the stereotype—“journalists are arrogant and unconcerned with the readership”—and frames his blog as a counter-program. That choice matters: blogs, especially in Kristof’s era of early digital migration, were positioned as porous and conversational, a place where a columnist could perform accessibility and responsiveness in real time. He’s signaling that he understands the medium’s implicit demand: don’t just publish; engage.

There’s subtextual humility, but also strategy. By casting the problem as a “notion” he’s “combat[ing],” Kristof implies the caricature is widespread, maybe unfair, yet potent enough to shape public trust. He’s not begging readers to like journalists; he’s acknowledging that credibility now lives and dies on perceived empathy. The quote works because it’s both self-aware and self-protective: it concedes that journalism’s authority is brittle, then offers care—linguistic care—as proof of respect.