If we go on as we are, we are protecting the mind of the American public from any real contact with the menacing world that squeezes in upon us. We are engaged in a great experiment to discover whether a free public opinion can devise and direct methods of managing the affairs of the nation. We may fail. But we are handicapping ourselves needlessly.
Edward R. Murrow Carolinian
Source
No citation is recorded for this quotation.
- form
- speech
- work
- RTNDA Convention Speech (1958)
- year
- 1958
no citation recorded
Cite this record
“If we go on as we are, we are protecting the mind of the Ame…” Edward R. Murrow. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-C1E4AAFA2E. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/c1e4aafa2e
More from Edward R. Murrow
The sponsor of an hour's television program is not buying merely the six minutes devoted to commercial message. He is determining, within broad limits, the sum total of the impact of the entire hour. If he always, invariably, reaches for the largest possible audience, then this process of insulation, of escape from reality, will continue to be massively financed, and its apologist will continue to make winsome speeches about giving the public what it wants, or "letting the public decide."
I have no feud, either with my employers, any sponsors, or with the professional critics of radio and television. But I am seized with an abiding fear regarding what these two instruments are doing to our society, our culture and our heritage.
We cannot make good news out of bad practice.