Scott Pelley Quotes

• Democracies succeed or fail based on their journalism. America is strong because its journalism is strong. That is how democracies work. They're only as good as the quality of the information that the public possesses and that is where we come in.

  Scott Pelley

  Strong, America, Democracy

  51 Copy quote

• There is no democracy without journalism.

  Scott Pelley

  Democracy, Journalism

  "CBS' Scott Pelley on Fake News, Trump's War on the Press and His Favorite Movie of the Year" by Seth Abramovitch, www.hollywoodreporter.com. November 23, 2016.

  7 Copy quote

• In a world where everyone is a publisher, no one is an editor and that is the danger that we face today.

  Scott Pelley

  Editors, World, Today

  Scott Pelley's speech upon receiving the Fred Friendly journalism award at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, May 11, 2013.

  4 Copy quote

• If you're first, no one will ever remember. If you're wrong, no one will ever forget.

  Scott Pelley

  Firsts, Remember, Forget

  4 Copy quote

• Never before in human history has more bad information been available to more people.

  Scott Pelley

  People, Information, Humans

  "Scott Pelley: ‘We’re Getting the Big Stories Wrong, Over and Over Again’". Scott Pelley's speech at the accepting his Fred Friendly First Amendment award at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Club in New York, www.adweek.com. May 10, 2013.

  4 Copy quote

• We have entered a time when a writer's first idea is his best idea, when the first thing a reporter hears is the first thing that she reports. We live in a time now when we have seen major television networks take video off of YouTube and broadcast it to millions of Americans without verifying whether the video had been fabricated or not.

  Scott Pelley

  Ideas, Firsts, Video

  6 Copy quote

• The country is only as strong as its journalism - that's the way democracies work. The higher the quality of the information, the better informed the electorate is and the better the government runs.

  Scott Pelley

  Running, Country, Strong

  Source: deadline.com

  4 Copy quote

• If I do an interview with [Holocaust survivor] Elie Wiesel, am I required as a journalist to find a Holocaust denier?

  Scott Pelley

  Holocaust, Interviews, Energy

  "Hellfire and Heresy: Global Warming Hotheads Inflamed About Skeptical Challengers". www.forbes.com. March 23, 2006.

  57 Copy quote

• Twitter, Facebook and Reddit, that’s not journalism. That's gossip. Journalism was invented as an antidote to gossip.

  Scott Pelley

  Gossip, Journalism, Antidote

  "Scott Pelley Is No Fred Friendly" by Michael Rosenblum, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 13, 2013.

  4 Copy quote

• The quality of life in America is dependent on the quality of the journalism. Most people don't realize that, but if you think about it, journalism is one of the pillars on which our society is perched.

  Scott Pelley

  Thinking, America, People

  "Scott Pelley: In His Own Words" by Beth Knobel, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 3, 2011.

  7 Copy quote

• When you are talking to 7 million viewers across the country, man you have got to represent everybody's views and have got to give them the impression that you are being as honest as you know how to be.

  Scott Pelley

  Country, Men, Views

  Source: deadline.com

  4 Copy quote

• The problem the cable channels have is they have to fill 24 hours. That's a terrible thing. We only do that on the biggest stories. The thing is there has happened to be a lot o

  Scott Pelley

  Stories, Problem, Hours

  Source: deadline.com

  4 Copy quote

• Most people don't realize that two-thirds of the federal budget is Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Pentagon. The U.S. government is an insurance company with an Army.

  Scott Pelley

  Army, Government, Two

  Source: www.cbsnews.com

  7 Copy quote

• You have to be a political leader, willing to lose an election if you want to do what's right.

  Scott Pelley

  Leader, Political, Want

  Source: www.cbsnews.com

  4 Copy quote

• Journalists are getting big stories wrong, over and over again.

  Scott Pelley

  Stories, Bigs, Journalist

  4 Copy quote

• Science doesn't care, by and large, what the answers are. It's only interested in getting the right answer. And journalism should be very much that way.

  Scott Pelley

  Answers, Care, Way

  "Scott Pelley: In His Own Words" by Beth Knobel, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 3, 2011.

  6 Copy quote

• I'm always trying to get those interviews that are impossible to get, because they are the ones that are most interesting to the audience.

  Scott Pelley

  Always Trying, Interesting, Interviews

  "Scott Pelley Slams Fox News Over Mark Owen Reveal, Wants to Interview the Pope". Interview with Jordan Zakarin, www.hollywoodreporter.com. April 10, 2013.

  4 Copy quote

• No one ever wanted to hire me. Ever. I've never been recruited anywhere. I have beat my head against every wall, at every place that I worked.

  Scott Pelley

  Wall, Beats, Wanted

  "Scott Pelley: In His Own Words" by Beth Knobel, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 3, 2011.

  4 Copy quote

• The American people can always be trusted with the information.

  Scott Pelley

  People, Information, Trusted

  Source: deadline.com

  4 Copy quote

• Not a lot of people watch cable news, they just don't.

  Scott Pelley

  People, Watches, News

  Source: deadline.com

  4 Copy quote

• You have to take risks on policy. You can't be a politician, wringing your hands, worried about what the public opinion polls are saying or worried about the negative attacks. If you believe in something, go fight for it.

  Scott Pelley

  Believe, Fighting, Hands

  Source: www.cbsnews.com

  4 Copy quote

• Democracies succeed or fail based on their journalism.

  Scott Pelley

  Democracy, Where We Come, Succeed

  4 Copy quote

• No one wanted to hire me. No newspaper, television station, television network that I worked for ever wanted to hire me.

  Scott Pelley

  Television, Newspapers, Wanted

  "5 Things to Know About Scott Pelley". www.hollywoodreporter.com. May 05, 2011.

  4 Copy quote

• I wonder at what point do you stop doing what you think is right and you start doing what the majority of the American people want?

  Scott Pelley

  Thinking, People, Majority

  "CBS's Pelley Grills McCain, Kroft & Couric Chatted With Democrats". www.newsbusters.org. March 10, 2008.

  4 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

Steve Kroft

Lesley Stahl

Brian Williams

Norah O'Donnell

Lara Logan

Bob Schieffer

Diane Sawyer

Katie Couric