21st-Century Journalism XV: Cornucopia
For the harvest season, these gleanings from the Freedom Forum's 2006 First Amendment Calendar:"There are two forces that carry light to all corners of the globe — the sun in the heavens and the Associated Press down here." -- Mark Twain
"Writing is like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." -- E. L. Doctorow (writer)
"We as journalists have to help set the agenda — not just pander to the lowest common denominator of reader or viewer interest." -- William F. Gentile (photojournalist, professor at American University)
"We explain the world to our readers, but we rarely explain ourselves to our readers." -- Jeannine A. Guttman (editor, Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram)
"Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assault of thoughts on the unthinking." -- John Maynard Keynes (economist)
"The storyteller is a kind of accountant. Each provides an audit of events and their cost, and it's for the listener to decide — was it worth it?" -- Ann-Marie MacDonald (author)
"Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making." -- John Milton (poet, 1644)
"The most talented journalists I know are gifted thinkers, dogged reporters of fact and beautiful musicians of language." -- Bruce Sanford (First Amendment lawyer)
"News, like light, is in abundant supply, yet without the prism of journalism it cannot be seen by the world." -- Drew Sunderland (journalism student, American University)
"Papa says, 'If you see it in The Sun it's so.' Please tell me the truth: Is there a Santa Claus?" -- Virginia O'Hanlon (8-year-old letter writer, 1897) [The New York Sun's famous response, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," is here.]
Labels: Journalism
posted by Karen Nelson @ 9:55 AM
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