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electronic
naif
The Status Quo
is NOT
Acceptable.
Ben Bagdikian, 1920 - 2016
journalist, news media critic and university professor.
He was a voice of conscience for his profession, calling for tougher standards of integrity and public service in an era of changing tastes and technology. This call for integrity is essential in this era of new media. It is for us to understand where this communication is coming from and demand this integrity. News is not entertainment.
from his 1996 memoir Double Vision: Reflections on My Heritage, Life and Profession
Never forget that your obligation is to the people. It is not, at heart, to those who pay you, or to your editor, or to your sources, or to your friends, or to the advancement of your career. It is to the public.
Ben Bagdikian quoted as telling his students
The First Amendment allows newspapers to print anything, especially unpopular things, newspapers have an implied moral obligation to be responsible, because of their power on popular opinion and because the First Amendment was "framed with the supposition that there would be multiple sources of information."
Frontline 1996
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