"...we did have some information that if we published, the president felt could at least injure the national security in a very critical moment, and we were asked to withhold this information, and we did. Now, this was not done lightly. New York Times doesn't subscribe to censorship, I'll tell you that, but this was done in a matter of national security" (see link above for more)
Above is an excerpt from the transcript of an oral history from John B. Oakes originally recorded in 1964, and preserved in the Notable New Yorker project at Columbia University. Oakes served as the editor for the New York Times' editorial section from 1961 until 1974, and is credited with developing the modern op-ed page.
I selected this oral history, and this fragment in particular, because I was fascinated by the insight he provided into the social climate at the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and the relationship between the media and the government during the Cold War. His interview offers more information than that which can be gleaned from reading news stories and reports about the United States' conflict with Cuba from the period; instead, he exposes the constraints faced by the newspaper itself in deciding when and what exactly to unveil to American readers. Oakes explained how the papers "obligation not to damage the basic national security" influenced his and the rest of the paper's editorial board to withhold information about the imminent invasion. Beyond this fragment, Oakes' oral history discusses the criticism faced by the New York Times for its framing of Cuba in stories during the 1950's and '60's and later constraints on their ability to publish editorials freely. On the whole, Oakes helps illuminate the inner workings of one the country's most prominent news publications, as well as the tensions which often divided its creators and writers. The interview offers the untold story of the op-ed page I read so often, and how it came into being as a standard section of daily newspapers, historically intended to be objective bearers of news. As someone who devours news and feature articles from about a dozen different publications, his oral history shares a wealth of information about the history of journalistic practices, and the experience of writing and reporting throughout periods of American history notorious for censorship and governmental suppression of dissent.
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