"Democracy Dies in Darkness" is the official slogan of the American newspaper ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', adopted in 2017. The slogan was introduced on the newspaper's website on February 22, 2017, and was added to print copies a week later. Upon its announcement, the slogan generated significant reaction – both positive and negative – from other news organizations and various media figures.

History

''The Washington Post'' first unveiled the slogan via Snapchat on February 17, 2017, when it launched its Snapchat Discover platform intended for reaching younger readers, before adding it to its website under the newspaper title. Shani George, the newspaper's Communications Director, said that the phrase had been used internally within the company for years before being officially adopted. "Democracy Dies in Darkness" was the first slogan to be officially adopted by ''The Washington'' ''Post'' in its 140-year history. According to the newspaper, the phrase was popularized by investigative journalist

Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for '' The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the title of associate editor. While a young reporter for ''The Washingt ...

. Woodward used the phrase in a 2007 piece criticizing government secrecy, and referenced the phrase during a 2015 presentation at a conference when he talked about ''The Last of the President's Men'', his book about the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...

. Woodward said he did not coin the phrase himself, instead attributing the phrase to a judge ruling on a

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

case, believed to be from Circuit Judge

Damon Keith Damon Jerome Keith (July 4, 1922 – April 28, 2019) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern Distr ...

. The paper's owner

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, who attended Woodward's 2015 presentation, also used the phrase in a May 2016 interview. The newspaper said it decided to adopt an official slogan in early 2016. This started a process which involved a small group of newspaper employees meeting to develop ideas for slogans. The group eventually settled on "Democracy Dies in Darkness" after brainstorming over 500 options. The slogan appeared at the end of the ''Post''s Super Bowl commercial in 2019. Narrated by

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

, the commercial was the newspaper's first-ever Super Bowl ad.

Reception

The slogan generated reaction on the Internet following its announcement. On Twitter, writers at other media organizations mocked the slogan, while news organization

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...

described the slogan as "awesome". Online magazine ''Slate'' said the slogan sounded "like a catchphrase more befitting a doomsday prophet than a daily newspaper", and compared the slogan to the titles of fifteen heavy metal albums, saying that they were "less dark" than the ''Washington Post'' slogan. Merriam-Webster dictionary recorded a surge in searches for the word "democracy" after the newspaper adopted the slogan.

Dean Baquet Dean P. Baquet (; born September 21, 1956) is an American journalist. He served as the executive editor of ''The New York Times'' from May 2014 to June 2022. Between 2011 and 2014 Baquet was managing editor under the previous executive editor J ...

, executive editor of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', said the slogan "sounds like the next Batman movie", while journalist

Jack Shafer Jack Shafer (born November 14, 1957) is an American journalist who writes about media for ''Politico''. Prior to joining ''Politico'', he worked for Reuters and also edited and wrote the column'' "''Press Box" for ''Slate'', an online magazine. B ...

called the slogan "heavy-handed".

References

{{Reflist, 30em Advertising slogans Darkness Democracy Newspaper publishing The Washington Post