Ben Bagdikian died earlier this month at this home in Berkeley. Mr. Bagdikian was a reporter for the Washington Post, author of eight books, and dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley.
He warned that freedom of the press was threatened by the consolidation of news and entertainment outlets, since only about 50 companies controlled what most Americans read or saw on TV. That was way back in 1983, over 30 years ago. It has only gotten worse in so many ways.
I don’t kid myself that this blog is going to change the world, or that I set an example for journalists, but I do aspire to what Mr. Bagdikian told his students:
“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.”
How I wish that more journalists, especially the journalists on cable news shows, followed that advice.
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