Wit & Attitude Quote by Roger Mudd

There is a steel-trap practicality in Mudd's line: it isn't a plea for virtue, it's a warning about consequences. "Skeptical to begin with" frames journalists less as neutral stenographers than as trained adversaries, professionally allergic to spin. The sentence pretends to be mild, almost commonsense, then tightens into the real charge: lying isn't merely wrong, it's an attempt to dominate the relationship by controlling what the public gets to know. "Made fools of" is the key phrase - it names the injury as humiliation, not just misinformation. A lie to a reporter isn't only an error in the record; it's an insult to the craft.

Mudd came up in an era when broadcast news traded heavily on credibility, when anchors were cultural referees and access was a currency. In that context, the quote reads like guidance to political operators: if you want coverage, don't mistake proximity for compliance. Journalists may be constrained by deadlines, sources, and corporate pressures, but they still run on pride and memory. Burn them and you don't just risk a correction; you trigger a revenge mechanism built into the ecosystem: tougher questions, fewer favors, a souring of the entire narrative.

The subtext is almost transactional. Skepticism is the baseline; trust is the scarce commodity. Lying doesn't simply break it - it tells journalists you think they are expendable props. They tend to respond by proving you wrong on camera.