Noam Cohen

Noam Cohen is a journalist and columnist for The New York Times. He has covered subjects including business and technology.

Quotes

Challenges of Covering the Wikimedia Community, Wikimania 2009 (August 28, 2009)

Internet companies and nonprofits like Wikipedia have been forced to choose between cooperating with the Chinese government and losing access to the growing online audience there.
- Cohen, Noam (October 16, 2006). "Chinese Government Relaxes Its Total Ban on Wikipedia". The New York Times. Retrieved on October 29, 2014.

Governments are trying to wrestle, how do you censor without being so heavy-handed that you make people really, you know, can't live their lives.
- Interview with National Public Radio; quoted in — Conan, Neal (June 22, 2009). "What Is The Value Of Tweets From Iran". Talk of the Nation (National Public Radio; WBUR). Retrieved on October 29, 2014.

Through Google, you can find the horrible things people say about you, and the nice things they say about you. And so I do that regularly to sort of check on it.
- Interviewed as part of panel discussion — Lih, Andrew (August 28, 2009). "Lih-Challenges of Covering the Wikimedia Community.ogv Challenges of Covering the Wikimedia Community". Wikimania 2009 (Wikimedia Foundation). Retrieved on October 30, 2014.

As time has shifted, The Times and all the other media outlets recognize how important Wikipedia is. It's not the same hurdle anymore. I don't have to sort of say: 'Wow look at this strange thing going on, can I write some weird story about it?' Instead it's like: 'This is hugely important, and of course, write, we want to know every change.'
- Interviewed as part of panel discussion — Lih, Andrew (August 28, 2009). "Lih-Challenges of Covering the Wikimedia Community.ogv Challenges of Covering the Wikimedia Community". Wikimania 2009 (Wikimedia Foundation). Retrieved on October 30, 2014.

Before Wikileaks, or even the Internet, there were just plain leaks.
- Cohen, Noam (April 18, 2010). "What Would Daniel Ellsberg Do With the Pentagon Papers Today?". The New York Times. Retrieved on October 30, 2014.

If someone today had the Pentagon Papers, or the modern equivalent, would he still go to the press, as Daniel Ellsberg did nearly 40 years ago, and wait for the documents to be analyzed and published? Or would that person simply post them online immediately?
- Cohen, Noam (April 18, 2010). "What Would Daniel Ellsberg Do With the Pentagon Papers Today?". The New York Times. Retrieved on October 30, 2014.

Playing the government off newspapers, and newspapers against each other, still does not compare with the power of the World Wide Web.
- Cohen, Noam (April 18, 2010). "What Would Daniel Ellsberg Do With the Pentagon Papers Today?". The New York Times. Retrieved on October 30, 2014.

America's got a much stronger tradition of free speech and freedom of the press. In Europe, it's much more nuanced and they put a lot of meaning on the rights of your reputation.
- Interviewed live on MSNBC program Morning Joe; quoted in — Brzezinski, Mika (July 7, 2014). "Google begins cleaning up online reputations". Morning Joe (MSNBC). Retrieved on October 29, 2014.

Never before has the boundary between geek culture and mainstream culture been so porous.
- Cohen, Noam (September 13, 2014). "We're All Nerds Now". The New York Times. Retrieved on October 29, 2014.

An engineering degree is also no longer a requisite to using technology, as seemingly anyone today can install a printer or upload a video. Similarly, another signifier of nerd status — knowing obscure facts about favorite subjects — has also lost its currency.
- Cohen, Noam (September 13, 2014). "We're All Nerds Now". The New York Times. Retrieved on October 29, 2014.

From gadgets to social networks to video games, the decision not to embrace the newest technology is a choice to be out of the mainstream.
- Cohen, Noam (September 13, 2014). "We're All Nerds Now". The New York Times. Retrieved on October 29, 2014.

Unlike in the United States, where freedom of expression is a fundamental right that supersedes other interests, Europe views an individual’s privacy and freedom of expression as almost equal rights.
- Cohen, Noam (October 3, 2014). "Times Articles Removed From Google Results in Europe". The New York Times. Retrieved on October 29, 2014.

As a fresh wave of Ebola fear grips the American public, the Internet is rife with conspiracy theories, supposed miracle cures and Twitter posts of dread. But amid the fear mongering are several influential sites that are sticking to the facts about Ebola. Millions have come to rely on these sites, including those run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and Wikipedia.
- Cohen, Noam (October 26, 2014). "Wikipedia Emerges as Trusted Internet Source for Ebola Information". The New York Times. Retrieved on October 29, 2014.

Once the butt of jokes for being the site where visitors could find anything, true or not, Wikipedia in recent years has become a more trusted source of information — certainly for settling bar bets, but even for weighty topics like Ebola.
- Cohen, Noam (October 26, 2014). "Wikipedia Emerges as Trusted Internet Source for Ebola Information". The New York Times. Retrieved on October 29, 2014.

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Noam Cohen