About
Francis Claud Cockburn ( KOH-bərn; 12 April 1904 – 15 December 1981) was a British journalist. His saying "believe nothing until it has been officially denied" is widely quoted in journalistic studies, but he did not claim credit for originating it. He was the second cousin, once removed, of the novelists Alec Waugh and Evelyn Waugh. He lived at Brook Lodge, Youghal, County Cork, Ireland.Cockburn was "a leading British Communist Party member", and by the 1940s, he was reputed to be a prominent figure in "the Comintern in Western Europe".