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Andrew HeiskellAndrew Heiskell
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Session:         Page of 824

by writing a primer. And they really won't care about it.

Q:

Does the journalism company, corporation, have the responsibility to, in any way raise the level of society? Quote, unquote, whatever that means.

Andrew Heiskell:

Well, if it doesn't it would be a great shame. What's it doing?

Q:

A lot of journalism concerns don't.

Andrew Heiskell:

Well, yeah, that's right. Oh yeah, yeah.

Q:

What was the attitude of Time Inc. through the years about that question?

Andrew Heiskell:

Oh, well, of course, that again goes back to Harry because Harry was a great believer in elevating society. And I guess that we all have been, to a greater or lesser extent. The reason it's very easy to be critical of journalism is that in a sense it is always trying to do an awful lot more than it can do well. Namely, it's as if the spring company suddenly decided to make automobiles, airplanes, Pharmaceuticals and a few other things like that. We claim to be able to tell you about all of those things, inevitably in a judgmental way. We can't say all things are equal, therefore we have to say, “This is better than that.” And that requires people of considerable judgment, a bit of discretion, and a lot of knowledge.





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