"Numerous politicians have seized absolute power and muzzled the press. Never in history has the press seized absolute power and muzzled the politicians"
About this Quote
Brinkley’s line is a cool splash of skepticism aimed at one of democracy’s favorite scapegoats: the press as shadow government. The structure matters. He opens with a blunt historical record - politicians grab power, then they go straight for the oxygen line of dissent: the press. That first sentence isn’t rhetorical flourish; it’s a compressed autocrat’s playbook. The second sentence pivots with a dry, almost courtroom-style reversal: show me the evidence of the opposite. The punch is its asymmetry. Brinkley isn’t claiming journalists are saints; he’s claiming they’re not the ones with the guns, the courts, the jails, the licensing offices - the machinery that turns irritation into silence.
The subtext is a rebuke to the perennial complaint that media criticism equals censorship, or that a harsh headline is a kind of coup. Brinkley draws a line between influence and coercion, between agenda-setting and power-seizing. Yes, the press can shape narratives, humiliate leaders, and amplify panics. But “muzzling” is an act of state, not a nasty editorial or a cable segment.
Contextually, Brinkley came out of a 20th-century American newsroom that watched strongmen abroad clamp down on papers, and watched American politicians flirt with similar impulses, especially when coverage turned adversarial. The quote reads like a vaccination against “enemy of the people” logic before it becomes fashionable: if you can convince citizens that scrutiny is tyranny, you’ve already cleared space for the real thing.
The subtext is a rebuke to the perennial complaint that media criticism equals censorship, or that a harsh headline is a kind of coup. Brinkley draws a line between influence and coercion, between agenda-setting and power-seizing. Yes, the press can shape narratives, humiliate leaders, and amplify panics. But “muzzling” is an act of state, not a nasty editorial or a cable segment.
Contextually, Brinkley came out of a 20th-century American newsroom that watched strongmen abroad clamp down on papers, and watched American politicians flirt with similar impulses, especially when coverage turned adversarial. The quote reads like a vaccination against “enemy of the people” logic before it becomes fashionable: if you can convince citizens that scrutiny is tyranny, you’ve already cleared space for the real thing.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
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