Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Go ahead, Punch

Back in the 1980s, when I worked at the Wall Street Journal and the paper considered itself the cop on the beat of corporate America, an editor once told me that "you’re not a real reporter until you get your nose bloodied by a libel suit." In other words, be aggressive. I loved that tough-minded ...

Back in the 1980s, when I worked at the Wall Street Journal and the paper considered itself the cop on the beat of corporate America, an editor once told me that "you're not a real reporter until you get your nose bloodied by a libel suit." In other words, be aggressive. I loved that tough-minded attitude, which was shared by the Journal's lawyers.

Back in the 1980s, when I worked at the Wall Street Journal and the paper considered itself the cop on the beat of corporate America, an editor once told me that "you’re not a real reporter until you get your nose bloodied by a libel suit." In other words, be aggressive. I loved that tough-minded attitude, which was shared by the Journal’s lawyers.

I wax nostalgic about the golden days of old media because I see where a blogger has been denounced by his chicken-hearted boss. My favorite take on this unfortunate trend comes from Jeffrey Goldberg.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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