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[President John Fitzgerald Kennedy]If you asked every publisher every editor
and every news man in the nation
to reexamine his own standards
and to recognize the nature
of our country's peril.
In time of war
the government and the press
have customarily joined in an effort
based largely on self discipline
to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the enemy.
In times of clear and present danger,
the courts have held that even the privilege rights of the first amendment
must yield to the public's need for national security.
Today no war has been declared,
and however fierce the struggle may be
it may never be declared
in the traditional fashion.
Our way of life is under attack.
Those who make themselves our enemy
are advancing around the globe
the survival of our friends is in danger
and yet no war has been declared,
no borders have been crossed by marching troops,
no missiles have been fired.
If the press is awaiting a declaration of war
before it imposes the self discipline of combat conditions
then I can only say that no war ever posed
a greater threat to our security.
If you are awaiting a finding of clear and present danger
than I can only say that the danger has never been more clear
and its presence has never been more imminent.
It requires a change in outlook,
a change in tactics,
a change in missions,
by the government
by the people
by every businessman or labor leader and by every newspaper. Never the less every democracy
recognizes the necessary restraints
of national security
and the question remains
whether those restraints need to be more strictly observed
if we are to oppose this kind of attack
as well as outright invasion.
For the facts of the matter are
that this nation's foes
have openly boasted
of acquiring through our newspapers information
they would otherwise hire agents to acquire through theft
bribery or espionage
that details of this nation's covered preparations
to counter the enemy's covered operations
have been available
to every newspaper reader, friend and foe alike,
as to the size, the strength, location and the nature of our forces and weapons
and our plans and strategy for their use
have all been pinpointed in the press
and other news media
to a degree sufficient to satisfy any foreign power
and that in at least one case
the publication of details
concerning a secret mechanism
whereby satellites were followed
required its alteration at the expense of considerable time and money
the newspapers which printed these stories were loyal, patriotic, responsible
and well-meaning
had we been engaged in open warfare
they undoubtedly would not have published such items
but in the absence of open warfare
they recognized only the test of journalism
and not the tests
of national security
and my question tonight
is whether additional tests
should not now be adopted.
That question is for you alone to answer.
No public official
should answer it for you
no governmental plan should impose its restraints against your will
but i would be failing in my duty to the nation
in considering all of the responsibilities that we now bear,
and all of the means at hand to meet those responsibilities
if i did not command this problem to your attention and urge it thoughtful consideration
[NASA narrator]The next job was to load the MET
a rikshaw like wagon the astronauts would use to transport their tools of exploration
and collected samples