Certainly we must face this fact: if the American press, as a mass medium, has formed the minds of America, the mass has also formed the medium. There is action, reaction, and interaction going on
ceaselessly between the newspaper-buying public and the editors. What is wrong with the American
press is what is in part wrong with American society. Is this, then, to exonerate the American press for
its failures to give the American people more tasteful and more illuminating reading matter? Can the
American press seek to be excused from responsibility for public lack of information as TV and radio
often do, on the grounds that, after all, "we have to give the people what they want or we will go out of
business"? - Clare Boothe Luce, "What's Wrong with the American Press?"
Discuss:
1. What is Luce's attitude toward the American press?