“All the news that’s fit to print.”

THE FAMOUS NEWSPAPER SLOGAN: “All the news that’s fit to print.”         Adolph Simon Ochs (1858-1935)        American newspaper publisher         This is the famed and oft-parodied slogan of The New York Times. It was coined by Ochs in 1896 when he gained control of the paper. According to Professor W. Joseph Campbell, author of the book The Year That Defined American Journalism, the slogan was first used on signs promoting the Times. It was first printed on the front page of the paper on February 10, 1897, in a box at the upper left corner, where it has appeared ever since.

THE TYPICAL CONSERVATIVE VIEW OF THE NYT: “‘All the news that’s fit to print” has morphed into “‘any news that fits our agenda, we print.’”        Conservative blogger Alicia Colon        In an opinion piece criticizing the New York Times as “left-leaning,” posted on the American Thinker site on January 20, 2011

THE PLAYBOY VARIATION: “All the nudes that’s fit to print.”          Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner         Describing a fan’s view of Playboy magazine in his column in the November 1963 issue

THE ENQUIRING MINDS VARIATION: “The National Enquirer: ‘All the News That’s Unfit to Print.’”        Ralph Ginzburg (1929-2006)         American writer, publisher, activist and porn pioneer          In a 1964 issue of his magazine Fact (published 1964-1967)

ROLLING STONE’S VERSION: “All the news that fits.”         Slogan created for Rolling Stone by the magazine’s editor and publisher Jann Wenner        Used since the first issue, which was published in November 1967 and featured John Lennon on the cover

JOHN LENNON’S VERSION: “‘All the shit that fits’ is more like it.”        John Lennon (1940-1980)        Complaining about inaccuracies in a Rolling Stone news story. The quip was the last line of a handwritten note Lennon sent to the magazine’s “Random Notes” department in 1967. A photo of note was published along with photos of John and Yoko in an interview with Jann Wenner in the February 4, 1971 issue of Rolling Stone.

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Further reading: books about famous slogans…