Asjsa Honors Ben Bagdikian as Journalism's ‘Most Perceptive Critic’

Abstract

Ben H. Bakdikian, reporter, editor and contributor to many national magazines, was cited as “journalism's most perceptive critic” at the annual awards luncheon sponsored by the American Society of Journalism School Administrators during the 1978 convention of the Association for Education in Journalism in Seattle.

The citation was presented before a standing-room-only crowd by Joe W. Milner of Arizona State University, 1977–78 president of ASJSA.

Currently a professor of journalism at the University of California at Berkeley, Bagdikian has been a newsman since he began with the Springfield (Mass.) Morning Union in 1941. He was on the staff of the Providence (R. I.) Journal and Bulletin for 15 years.

Bagdikian's interest as a media critic soared in the 1960s when he became a contributing editor to the Saturday Evening Post. He was later assistant managing editor and ombudsman for the Washington Post.

Bagdikian's nomination for the ASJSA award stated that he has demonstrated in many ways the necessity of critical evaluation of the performance of all those associated with journalism.

“Though many may disagree with his assessments,” the nomination said, “few can fail to react in some way to his judgments concerning the press and its practitioners.”

A spokesman for press councils, Bagdikian was project director for the three-year study on newspaper survival sponsored by the Merkle Foundation. The Pulitzer Prize winner is also author of five books, including The Information Machines: Their Impact on Men and the Media.