Michael Wolff Quotes

I think if you look at the failure of journalism in the modern age, then I don't want to be called a journalist.

The media has not done a great job in fulfilling their role - journalism's role in a democracy is to provide information on profoundly important subjects so we're an informed citizenry.

I've been in journalism my entire adult life and have often defended it against fellow conservatives who claim the news business is fundamentally corrupt.

One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage.

Where are reliable journalism and reliable investigative voices going to come from? I love the days of old - the Walter Cronkites, the Dan Rathers.

There's no worse crime in journalism these days than simply deciding something's a story because Drudge links to it.

I think journalism is a great way to do public service, to have an impact on your community.

The duty of the media is to observe truth and social responsibility.

I think people should be consumers of journalism.

Why does it appear that interested readers so often attribute flaws to 'the press' rather than taking particular issue with particular reports?

I do think the biggest problem newspapers have is loss of trust, and I feel that's a result of failure to speak truth to power.

Media is just a word that has come to mean bad journalism.

One of the most important roles of our journalists is to be watchdogs.

It's CNN's bigger problem that CNN wants to deny reality. I, too, used to drink the Kool-Aid that it was a top journalism operation that reports without bias. Now that I'm outside the walls of traditional media, I know there is no such thing.

The whole notion of journalism being an institution whose fundamental purpose is to educate and inform and even, one might say, elevate, has altered under commercial pressure, perhaps, into a different kind of purpose, which is to divert and distract and entertain.

To change the media, you're gonna have to totally throw out every journalism school and get rid of everybody in every newsroom, and then you're gonna have to change the grade school and middle school and high school curriculum.

I think in many aspects the press does amazing things and helps a lot of people.

The point of journalism is to hold people in positions of power accountable.

We've lost a lot of regard for straight forward news stories, and that has then been supplemented by comment, not even analysis, which has created a lot of celebrity journalists.

I wouldn't say all journalism is activism, but I would say most journalism is activism.

I don't think it is just in the world of politics. The lack of civility in society as a whole, some of it, I believe, is very much fueled by social media and frankly, it's fueled by the fact that journalism is not journalism any more.

I know journalists like to think that they are read by people like me, but I don't read them.

If you don't think there is any value in the work I, or any other serious journalists do, then don't spend your money on it. At least you have the choice.

The focus of entertainment is taking away from what the public needs as news. I think investigative journalism will always be important and always find its way, be it on the Internet or wherever.

I don't think journalism changes. It's about digging into stories and telling them well. The basic tenets of great reporting stay the same while things around it change. Technology has made reporting easier, but it has also caused job loss. Social media has increased discussion around topics, but it has its own challenges at times.