Since September 11 2001, editors in America have faced some excruciating choices, as the attempt to wage a war against a new kind of enemy sometimes strained the boundaries of our laws and values.

I don't think that there is absolute freedom of the press. We operate under laws - against libel, for instance. The idea that there is some absolute press freedom is kind of a myth.

It wasn't a new idea. During the war against the French we had this kind of broadcast for the French soldiers.

We citizens don't need to know every detail of every military operation in this new kind of war. Nor should the media tell us and hence our enemy.

[Your curiosity was the characteristic that editors and reporters mentioned more than any other.] I think of The Times reader as curious, as someone who regards life as a continuing education, ... Each reader has a few subjects about which he or she may be passionate, even expert, and a more wide-ranging appetite that can be seduced, surprised, engaged on almost any subject if we present it well.

Your choice is to be active or passive in your responses.