--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Journalists who swallow the subject's…" description: "\"Journalists who swallow the subject's account whole and publish it are not journalists but publicists.\" — Janet Malcolm" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de5/janet-malcolm-10933_account_journalists-who-swallow-the-subject-s-ac_2025677.png" --- # Journalists who swallow the subject's account whole and… ![“Journalists who swallow the subject's account whole and publish it are not journalists but publicists.” quote by Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de5/janet-malcolm-10933_account_journalists-who-swallow-the-subject-s-ac_2025677.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de5/janet-malcolm-10933_account_journalists-who-swallow-the-subject-s-ac_2025677.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de5/janet-malcolm-10933_account_journalists-who-swallow-the-subject-s-ac_2025677.png) > “Journalists who swallow the subject's account whole and publish it are not journalists but publicists.” [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If journalists accept a subject’s story without scrutiny, they become promoters, not observers. **In simple terms:** Uncritical reporting turns journalists into publicists. Key Takeaway Maintain critical distance and verify sources. Themes journalism ethics truth Mood cautionary analytical Type ethical practical When to use this quote - news reporting - investigative work - public relations Key Concepts media studies critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure objectivity under deadline pressure? - What safeguards can prevent bias? A Different Perspective Pressure for speed can compromise verification. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Journalists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalists/) [Publicists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publicists/) ## Related quotes > [As journalists, we cannot swallow the official line without question. We should challenge almost everything that dictators, presidents and officials say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-ramos/as-journalists-we-cannot-swallow-the-official-line-without-question/) [Jorge Ramos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-ramos/) > [While some entertainment executives understand the power of having someone else speak for you, most Hollywood publicists don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grenell/while-some-entertainment-executives-understand-the-power-of-having/) [Richard Grenell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grenell/) > [And then Gossip Girl completely blew open the door to fashion for me. I'd go to fashion shows and call my publicist and say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-lively/and-then-gossip-girl-completely-blew-open-the-door-to-fashion-for-me/) [Blake Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-lively/) > [The Truth doesn't need your cooperation to exist. All forms of cult, all forms of hype, all forms of delusion do require your participation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-truth-doesn-t-need-your-cooperation-to-exist-all-forms-of-cult/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I never read anything in print about me. It started with not reading reviews and with the greatest respect to my publicist here, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/i-never-read-anything-in-print-about-me-it-started-with-not-reading/) [Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/) > [We must look at the institution of slavery as publicists, and not as casuists. It is a question of law, and not a case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-brooke-taney/we-must-look-at-the-institution-of-slavery-as-publicists-and-not-as/) Roger Brooke Taney > [My publicist told me that a magazine was going to say I was having a thing with either Sam Claflin or Bradley Cooper, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-lawrence/my-publicist-told-me-that-a-magazine-was-going-to-say-i-was-having-a/) [Jennifer Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-lawrence/) > [If you do not regard feminism with an uplifting sense of the gloriousness of woman's industrial destiny, or in the way, in short, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/if-you-do-not-regard-feminism-with-an-uplifting-sense-of-the/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [I confess . . . that I am not myself very much concerned with the question of influence, or with those publicists who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/i-confess-that-i-am-not-myself-very-much-concerned-with-the-question/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [If I had to spend equal time doing paintings, and equal time going to galleries and doing art business, and equal time making music,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-harry/if-i-had-to-spend-equal-time-doing-paintings-and-equal-time-going-to/) [Debbie Harry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-harry/) > [The publicists are the gatekeepers, and they wield a lot of power. They're the ones giving you access to their clients.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-danza/the-publicists-are-the-gatekeepers-and-they-wield-a-lot-of-power-they/) [Tony Danza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-danza/) > [I've had high-powered publicists in my career, and I've had publicists when they've had no power. I've run the gamut.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debi-mazar/i-ve-had-high-powered-publicists-in-my-career-and-i-ve-had-publicists/) [Debi Mazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debi-mazar/) > [I'm not in the business to make people aware of me, and publicists are very expensive - they're $3,500 a month! I don't want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debi-mazar/i-m-not-in-the-business-to-make-people-aware-of-me-and-publicists-are/) [Debi Mazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debi-mazar/) > [The one thing I've always done as an author is talk to my publicists. Because they have all the best stories - and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-coady/the-one-thing-i-ve-always-done-as-an-author-is-talk-to-my-publicists/) [Lynn Coady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-coady/) > [It is a melancholy experience for a professional mathematician to find himself writing about mathematics. The function of a mathematician is to do something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy/it-is-a-melancholy-experience-for-a-professional-mathematician-to/) [G. H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy/) ## More by Janet Malcolm > [The camera is simply not the supple and powerful instrument of description that the pen is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-camera-is-simply-not-the-supple-and-powerful-instrument-of/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [“The writer ultimately tires of the subject's self-serving story, and substitutes a story of his own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-writer-ultimately-tires-of-the-subject-s-self-serving-story-and/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [Society mediates between the extremes of, on the one hand, intolerably strict morality and, on the other, dangerously anarchic permissiveness through an unspoken agreement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/society-mediates-between-the-extremes-of-on-the-one-hand-intolerably/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [Something seems to happen to people when they meet a journalist, and what happens is exactly the opposite of what one would expect. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/something-seems-to-happen-to-people-when-they-meet-a-journalist-and/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The ‘I’ character in journalism is almost pure invention. Unlike the ‘I’ of autobiography, who is meant to be seen as a representation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-i-character-in-journalism-is-almost-pure-invention-unlike-the-i/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [I don't want to manipulate actuality; I want to record it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/i-don-t-want-to-manipulate-actuality-i-want-to-record-it/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The journalistic 'I' is an overreliable narrator, a functionary to whom crucial tasks of narration and argument and tone have been entrusted, an ad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-journalistic-i-is-an-overreliable-narrator-a-functionary-to-whom/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [“The subject of a piece of writing has not suffered the tension and anxiety endured by the subject of the "Eichmann experiment" (as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-subject-of-a-piece-of-writing-has-not-suffered-the-tension-and/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [People talk in ungrammatical, unwriterly ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/people-talk-in-ungrammatical-unwriterly-ways/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [This is what it is the business of the artist to do. Art is theft, art is armed robbery, art is not pleasing your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/this-is-what-it-is-the-business-of-the-artist-to-do-art-is-theft-art/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The journalist confines himself to the clean, gentlemanly work of exposing the griefs and shames of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-journalist-confines-himself-to-the-clean-gentlemanly-work-of/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The dominant and most deep-dyed trait of the journalist is his timorousness. Where the novelist fearlessly plunges into the water of self-exposure, the journalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-dominant-and-most-deep-dyed-trait-of-the-journalist-is-his/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [If I write a page a day, I feel very good about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/if-i-write-a-page-a-day-i-feel-very-good-about-it/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [“Something seems to happen to people when they meet a journalist, and what happens is exactly the opposite of what one would expect. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/something-seems-to-happen-to-people-when-they-meet-a-journalist-and-2/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [You could say that any book that takes a position is not fair, unless you keep saying, 'On the one hand, on the other...'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/you-could-say-that-any-book-that-takes-a-position-is-not-fair-unless/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) [Explore all 62 Janet Malcolm quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) ## More Account quotes > [I have a Twitter account; I have a fantastic Facebook page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-king/i-have-a-twitter-account-i-have-a-fantastic-facebook-page/) [Angus King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-king/) > [I saw a report on the news: 'Peter Dinklage tweeted... ' What? You know, I don't need any of that stuff. 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