--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We have got to make sure there is proper…" description: "\"We have got to make sure there is proper independent scrutiny and accountability for people in the press, just as there should be in any other industry..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/nick-clegg-8434_accountability_we-have-got-to-make-sure-there-is-proper_273319.png" --- # We have got to make sure there is proper independent… ![“We have got to make sure there is proper independent scrutiny and accountability for people in the press, just as there should be in any other industry where things go wrong. But let's not try and think it is for politicians or governments to tell people what they stick in newspapers. That is…” quote by Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/nick-clegg-8434_accountability_we-have-got-to-make-sure-there-is-proper_273319.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/nick-clegg-8434_accountability_we-have-got-to-make-sure-there-is-proper_273319.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/nick-clegg-8434_accountability_we-have-got-to-make-sure-there-is-proper_273319.png) > “We have got to make sure there is proper independent scrutiny and accountability for people in the press, just as there should be in any other industry where things go wrong. But let's not try and think it is for politicians or governments to tell people what they stick in newspapers. That is deeply illiberal.” [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Calls for independent oversight of the press, warning that government control would be illiberal. **In simple terms:** Press needs checks, but not government control. Key Takeaway Support independent media accountability. Themes media freedom accountability Mood cautious analytical Type political ethical When to use this quote - newsrooms - public policy - legal frameworks Key Concepts journalism regulation liberalism Questions to Reflect On - How can oversight be truly independent? - What safeguards prevent government overreach? A Different Perspective Balancing oversight with freedom of expression is complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accountability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accountability/) [Governments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/governments/) [Industry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/industry/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Politicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politicians/) [Press](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/press/) [Scrutiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scrutiny/) ## Related quotes > [People have to remember that the armed forces do as democratically elected governments tell them to do. 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I find it's very healing, more than just your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idina-menzel/along-with-enough-sleep-and-taking-proper-supplements-i-steam-in-my/) [Idina Menzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idina-menzel/) > [I've not really spent much time in proper studios. The room itself where you're recording, and how you live while you're there is what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/feist/i-ve-not-really-spent-much-time-in-proper-studios-the-room-itself/) [Feist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/feist/) > [Nothing is so good that impious and sacrilegious and wicked people cannot contort its proper benefit into evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/nothing-is-so-good-that-impious-and-sacrilegious-and-wicked-people/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [I think it eminently proper that a president should retire from active politics, and equally proper that he should be able to live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/i-think-it-eminently-proper-that-a-president-should-retire-from/) [Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/) > [I played guitar from the age of four or five. Every year there would be a slightly larger triangular box under the Christmas tree,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-marr/i-played-guitar-from-the-age-of-four-or-five-every-year-there-would/) [Johnny Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-marr/) > [Proper listening is the foundation of proper living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/proper-listening-is-the-foundation-of-proper-living/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [There are always proper responses, even to rude questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-martin/there-are-always-proper-responses-even-to-rude-questions/) [Judith Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-martin/) ## More by Nick Clegg > [I've just been away for a week, and I dropped my BlackBerry in the sea while I was messing around with the kids, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/i-ve-just-been-away-for-a-week-and-i-dropped-my-blackberry-in-the-sea/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [ \[All governments\] get into a rut where every potentially good story turns into a bad one. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/all-governments-get-into-a-rut-where-every-potentially-good-story/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [I say this as a young dad seeing children going into primary school: I don't think we should underestimate the formative effect on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/i-say-this-as-a-young-dad-seeing-children-going-into-primary-school-i/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [I am a passionate believer in freedom of speech. I would not support anything which would impinge on aggressive robust freedom of the British…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/i-am-a-passionate-believer-in-freedom-of-speech-i-would-not-support/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [For far too long the world's poorest people have seen no benefit from the vast natural resources in their own backyards. It is time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/for-far-too-long-the-world-s-poorest-people-have-seen-no-benefit-from/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [I work in lockstep, hand in glove, with the prime minister on these issues, and as we are supportive to the Eurozone so they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/i-work-in-lockstep-hand-in-glove-with-the-prime-minister-on-these/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [You see people literally in a different galaxy who are paying extraordinarily low rates of tax.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/you-see-people-literally-in-a-different-galaxy-who-are-paying/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [We are keen to stress that a strong euro zone is good for a strong United Kingdom. It's not for us to write the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/we-are-keen-to-stress-that-a-strong-euro-zone-is-good-for-a-strong/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [I will not accept a new wave of fiscal retrenchment, of belt-tightening, without asking people at the top to make their contribution, to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/i-will-not-accept-a-new-wave-of-fiscal-retrenchment-of-belt/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [I am quite strict as a dad but I don't want to be censorious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/i-am-quite-strict-as-a-dad-but-i-don-t-want-to-be-censorious/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [I totally accept that it's a legitimate criticism that when you are involved in the day-to-day scrum of government... that what can get lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/i-totally-accept-that-it-s-a-legitimate-criticism-that-when-you-are/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [We need to teach our kids, because there is such a celebrity culture at the moment, that however rich you are, however famous you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/we-need-to-teach-our-kids-because-there-is-such-a-celebrity-culture/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [“There is a future for us in that reformed Union, if we are prepared to grasp it. Brexit does not have to be hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/there-is-a-future-for-us-in-that-reformed-union-if-we-are-prepared-to/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [One of the best ways to make growth personal is to give employees a share in their firm, a real incentive to go the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/one-of-the-best-ways-to-make-growth-personal-is-to-give-employees-a/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) > [Nothing will do more damage to the pro-European movement than giving room to the suspicion that we have something to hide, that we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-clegg/nothing-will-do-more-damage-to-the-pro-european-movement-than-giving/) [Nick Clegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) [Explore all 81 Nick Clegg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-clegg/) ## More Accountability quotes > [Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/think-of-these-things-whence-you-came-where-you-are-going-and-to-whom/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [In the battle for police reform, accountability and justice, Americans don't have to re-invent the wheel. 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When there is debate, there are solutions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atifete-jahjaga/democracy-must-be-built-through-open-societies-that-share-information/) [Atifete Jahjaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atifete-jahjaga/) > [Democracy is not being well served as we're accustomed to. There is less information, there's less investigation, there's less analysis, there's less accountability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-greenspon/democracy-is-not-being-well-served-as-we-re-accustomed-to-there-is/) Edward Greenspon > [I come from a world where accountability and accomplishments matter, and where titles and rhetoric take a back seat to results.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carly-fiorina/i-come-from-a-world-where-accountability-and-accomplishments-matter/) [Carly Fiorina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carly-fiorina/) > [It means a lot. It means I'm accountable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/champ-bailey/it-means-a-lot-it-means-i-m-accountable/) [Champ Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/champ-bailey/) > [Our particular principles of religion are a subject of accountability to our god alone. I enquire after no man's and trouble none with mine;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/our-particular-principles-of-religion-are-a-subject-of-accountability/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [This strongly asserted but ill-defined license to kill without accountability is not an entitlement which the United States or other states can have without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-alston/this-strongly-asserted-but-ill-defined-license-to-kill-without/) Philip Alston > [Responsible Development shares many practices with XP but the roots are different. Responsible Development's values are honesty, transparency, accountability and responsibility. These lead me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-beck/responsible-development-shares-many-practices-with-xp-but-the-roots/) [Kent Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-beck/) > [“Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge… is empathy, for it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bullard/opinion-is-really-the-lowest-form-of-human-knowledge-it-requires-no/) Bill Bullard > [The American people deserve accountability over wasteful spending, and we accomplish that by prioritizing taxpayer dollars in a responsive and responsible manner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-britt/the-american-people-deserve-accountability-over-wasteful-spending-and/) [Katie Britt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-britt/) > [If torture is going to be administered as a last resort in the ticking-bomb case, to save enormous numbers of lives, it ought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/if-torture-is-going-to-be-administered-as-a-last-resort-in-the/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [“There are many professions that require individuals, on an ongoing basis, to pass drug tests, physicals and psychological evaluations in order to keep their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hopkins/there-are-many-professions-that-require-individuals-on-an-ongoing/) [Gary Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hopkins/) > [“Expecting accountability from the UN system was akin to expecting a blind dog to catch a flying Frisbee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-soussan/expecting-accountability-from-the-un-system-was-akin-to-expecting-a/) Michael Soussan [Browse all 860 Accountability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accountability/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We have got to make sure there is proper independent scrutiny and accountability for people in the press, just as there should be in any other industry where things go wrong. 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