![what does democracy dies in darkness mean what does democracy dies in darkness mean](https://www.democratic-erosion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/democracy-dies-white-men-s-premium-t-shirt.jpg)
No one keeps closer watch.”) to the Zen-like (“Yes. The choices ranged from the heroic (“Dauntless Defenders of the Truth”) to the clunky (“American democracy lives down the street. The group brainstormed more than 500 would-be slogans. It added that any slogan “must be memorable and may be slightly uncomfortable for us at first.” It also had to be “lofty, positive not bossy” and pithy enough to fit on a T-shirt. Our position must be conveyed ‘disruptively’ so we can shake consumers out of their news-as-commodity mindset.” The goal of the paper’s slogan, the document said, would be to communicate that The Post “has a long-standing reputation for providing news and information with unparalleled analysis and insight. . . One planning document for the group suggested finding a “positive” variation on the early contender “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” In any case, the phrase was at the center of discussions when a small group of Post employees, including Baron and Publisher Fred Ryan, began meeting last year to develop a slogan. In his decision, Keith apparently coined a variation on The Post’s motto, writing that “Democracy dies in the dark.” Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, who ruled in a pre-Watergate era case that the government couldn’t wiretap individuals without a warrant. Woodward’s source appears to be Judge Damon J. It’s about the dangers of secrecy in government, which is what I worry about most. He couldn’t recall the specifics of the case or the name of the judge who wrote the opinion. Woodward said he referenced it during a presentation at a conference that Bezos attended in 2015 in which Woodward talked about “ The Last of the President’s Men,” his most recent book about the Watergate scandal.īut Woodward, who has used the phrase in reference to President Nixon for years, said he didn’t coin it he read it some years earlier in a judicial opinion in a First Amendment case. “I think a lot of us believe this, that democracy dies in darkness, that certain institutions have a very important role in making sure that there is light,” he said at the time, speaking of his reasons for buying the paper.īezos apparently heard the phrase from legendary investigative reporter Bob Woodward, a Post associate editor. Bezos, used the phrase in an interview with The Post’s executive editor, Martin Baron, at a tech forum at The Post last May. The paper hasn’t had an official slogan in its 140-year existence, although it did get some mileage with a long-running advertising tagline, “If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.”Īt a forum last year, Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron, left, interviews founder and Post owner Jeff Bezos, who said at one point, “I think a lot of us believe this, that democracy dies in darkness.” (April Greer/For The Washington Post)
![what does democracy dies in darkness mean what does democracy dies in darkness mean](https://images.english.elpais.com/resizer/zQ9ymNpgwCNg14TkpiFJlNC6jJE=/1960x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/U56UC6NT6QJQ24UVTQA25NHRME.jpg)
The Post decided to come up with a slogan nearly a year ago, long before Trump was the Republican presidential nominee, senior executives said. The addition of the dramatic and alliterative phrase was generally misinterpreted as an indirect reply to President Trump’s phrasemaking about the news media (“ dishonest,” “ the enemy of the American people,” etc.). Others called it “ ominous,” “ awesome,” and “ heavy-handed.” Slate offered an alternative list: “ 15 Metal Albums Whose Titles Are Less Dark Than The Washington Post’s New Motto.” It was fodder for a few late-night cracks from Stephen Colbert, who suggested some of the rejected phrases included “No, You Shut Up,” “Come at Me, Bro” and “We Took Down Nixon - Who Wants Next?”
![what does democracy dies in darkness mean what does democracy dies in darkness mean](https://merriam-webster.com/assets/mw/images/article/art-wap-landing-mp-lg/democracy-3402-82c1459cfd44123628a786b8c8aa314a@1x.jpg)
The slogan quickly trended on Twitter, drawing tweets even from the People’s Daily newspaper in China. The Washington Post added a new phrase beneath its online masthead this week - “Democracy Dies in Darkness” - and the commentary flowed immediately. well, has there ever been a widely debated newspaper slogan? It may be the most widely debated and commented upon newspaper slogan since.