What's the problem with the American press?
In Britain there are rules; they're written down. I don't like it. It's censorship. But that's the rule. ... In the United States, nothing's written down. We've got a free press. [It's] just [that] if you don't know where the invisible borders are, you can lose your fucking job. .
Here's an example: Reading the New York Times the other day, Steven Greenhouse-a great labor reporter-does a front-page story about how Wal-Mart has been systematically not paying its workers . [and] violating the wage laws. "You've clocked out, but now you've got to clean up the storeroom."
Was it wonderful for the Times to run that story on the front page? Yes. The problem? One: The story's 10 years old. Two: It says "lawsuit contends." The New York Times did nothing. . They didn't say we discovered Wal-Mart's been doing this. They're saying someone's suing them for doing this.
So if you read that news carefully-what is probably one of their best reporters doing a praiseworthy report-even that is a piece of shit. And that's the New York Times at its best. . So now what am I supposed to do? Ask these guys for a job? What do I do when they say, "What do you think of our paper?" [Laughing] It 's not as soft as Charmin.