Harry A. Blackmun Quotes

I am not here to accuse the media of anything.

I think there are a lot of reasons to be critical of the media in America.

The Times has much less power than you think. I believe we attribute power to the media generally that it simply doesn't have. It's very convenient to blame the media, the same way we blame television for everything that's going wrong in society.

I think the media needs a little criticizing now, as it did in the '80s, don't you?

The press ... is but the servant of human intellect and its ministry is for good or evil, according to the character of those who direct it. The press is a mill that grinds all that is put into its hopper. Fill the hopper with poisoned grain and it will grind it to meal, but there is death in the bread.

Whoever said I hated the media?

All the media are horrible.

The media are not progressive enough to let us govern. 24/7 news is the worst thing that has happened to the ability to govern.

The chief danger which threatens the influence and honor of the press is the tendency of its liberty to degenerate into license.

I'm not worried by politics: I'm worried about the media.

I definitely have a real frustration with the media, especially having dealt with them as an agent.

Understanding how the media actually works is critical. Because editors depend on ignorance and media illiteracy to ply their trade. The fact that many readers expect fact checking, editorial oversight, and ethics actually makes it easier for the media to be lazy.

Once upon a time there were mass media, and they were wicked, of course, and there was a guilty party. Then there were the virtuous voices that accused the criminals. And Art (ah, what luck!) offered alternatives, for those who were not prisoners to the mass media.

Media is a big problem around the world, it's powerful and can abuse its power.

Given what the media have put the country through this past decade, it must come as a surprise to most Americans that the press has a code of ethics.

I used to think the press was a necessary evil and now I don't think it is. I think it's something you choose.

The media cause more problems than they do good.

I think the media is a real demon.

My father left me with a clear sense that the media was something different.

I'm concerned about the insidious influence of the media's bad messages that undermine the lessons parents try to instill in their sons and daughters.

The media doesn't need a conscience; people need consciences.

TV serves us most usefully when presenting junk-entertainment; it serves us most ill when it co-opts serious modes of discourse - news, politics, science, education, commerce, religion.

The press are scum.

The press, like fire, is an excellent servant, but a terrible master.

It’s always a danger when an institution like the press becomes disconnected from the people.