Ben Bagdikian quotes

Ben Bagdikian was an Armenian-American journalist and media critic known for his groundbreaking investigative reporting and fearless pursuit of the truth. With over five decades of experience in the industry, Bagdikian's work has had a lasting impact on the field of journalism. He is best known for his book "The Media Monopoly," which exposed the dangers of consolidation in the media industry. Bagdikian's insights into the power dynamics at play in the media world continue to be relevant today. Learn more about Ben Bagdikian and his contributions to journalism by exploring his extensive body of work.

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

Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's 'St. Matthew's Passion' on a ukulele.

- Ben Bagdikian

The safest way to ensure diversity of opinion is diverse ownership. But this ideal has been sacrificed by our government.

- Ben Bagdikian

Letting a maximum number of views be heard regularly is not just a nice philosophical notion. It is the best way any society has yet discovered to detect maladjustments quickly, to correct injustices, and to discover new ways to meet our continuing stream of novel problems that rise in a changing environment.

- Ben Bagdikian

In the US, voters cast ballots for individual candidates who are not bound to any party program except rhetorically, and not always then. Some Republicans are more liberal than some Democrats, some libertarians are more radical than some socialists, and many local candidates run without any party identification. No American citizen can vote intelligently without knowledge of the ideas, political background, and commitments of each individual candidate.

- Ben Bagdikian

If you no longer let the community hear all of it's significant voices - you begin to have; a single narrow view of: the problems of the society, of the solutions of society - and you begun soon or later overwhelmed by the society you don't understand.

- Ben Bagdikian