The freedom of the press has inevitably become one of the first casualties of wars and disasters, a former editor of the Washington Post has told a media conference in Belfast.
Mr Ben Bradlee, now the newspaper's "vice-president at large", played a vital part in breaking the Watergate scandal in the 1970s. Delivering the keynote speech at the three-day Society of Editors conference, which is attended by the editors of most leading British broadsheets and tabloids as well as an international audience, Mr Bradlee said it was an editor's duty to fight for the right to publish news.
"We all know the press comes under special scrutiny - always unfavourable - when our democratic societies are rocked by war and disasters . . . You have D notices , we have the First Amendment. But in times like these, the authorities always propose strengthening their powers to curtail our First Amendment freedoms. Always, always, always."
Mr Bradlee said he was hopeful that new technology would eventually "level the playing-field", as it took control of communication out of the hands of governments. Yet the same technology also threw up a whole set of new problems.
"Osama bin Laden live? Does that really aid the enemy? . . .I have trouble believing bin Laden is sophisticated enough to hurt us if we run his speeches - when you want to.
"But I've got to tell you I see nothing desperately wrong in waiting for a while before we broadcast. I see nothing wrong in asking us to paraphrase. The Republic will still stand."
He felt it was a "ludicrous" situation when it was U.S. Congress which was the "big leaker" of news on the war on Afghanistan and the Anthrax incidents, Mr Bradlee said.
"I don't sense any real tension between the Bush administration and the press on this . . . The claim by Congress that they needed to know everything in order to advise and consent to legislation is the worst bullshit I have ever heard."
However, the former Washington Post editor endorsed President George Bush's handling of the war, saying he was surrounded by a good, experienced team of politicians. "And you know what's amazing? I haven't heard one voice in Washington wishing that Gore was running the show, not Bush," he concluded.