I know that a great many of you here will not agree with me. You think that the news media have been unfair to the military. You are right. Undoubtedly the news media have been unfair to the military in many instances. Let me say something a bit heretical.
Partnership is bad for the press, it is bad for the government, and it is bad for the country.
The press does not belong on anybody's team. If the press is to be of any use to itself and to the country, it must ruthlessly avoid partnership with any government, any institution, or any political party. The press must guard its independence with the utmost vigilance. The press must be a state unto itself. It must not just call itself the fourth estate, it must behave like a fourth estate.