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Andrew HeiskellAndrew Heiskell
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Session:         Page of 824

society, an imperfect system but we have always made a major effort--not always, but most of the time--we've made a major effort to improve it according to our lights, obviously. And that you should use every tool that you have available to improve society. No one person can improve all of society, except dictators. In our system it's up to each individual to do his little part and to try to get as many individuals as possible doing their part.

Q:

Do you think that the responsibility of a media corporation is greater, or different from any other corporation's responsibility in society?

Andrew Heiskell:

Oh, it's greater, but it's more complicated. If you're making steel springs you've got to worry about making good steel springs, and employees and other things that would be true of a media group too. But if you're in the journalism business you have to deal with every form of steel spring and every form of everything else, every week of the year. You have to recognize that what people know about every subject is in good part the result of your efforts. Therefore you have to be reasonably well qualified, show good judgment, be, quote, fair, whatever that is. But that's important. You have to open up new aspects of the world to the reader.

Q:

I.e. educate the reader? Is that true?

Andrew Heiskell:

Inevitably educate the reader. You don't want to think of it too much as educating the reader because then you end up





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