Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Ben H. Bagdikian JOURNALIST, MEDIA CRITIC, PROFESSOR AND DEAN EMERITUS UC BERKELEY’S GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM Interviews conducted by Lisa Rubens in 2010 Copyright © 2011 by The Regents of the University of California ii Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Ben Bagdikian dated June 4, 2010. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/cite.html It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Ben Bagdikian, “BEN H. BAGDIKIAN: JOURNALIST, MEDIA CRITIC, PROFESSOR & DEAN EMERITUS, UC BERKELEY’S GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM,” conducted by Lisa Rubens 2010, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2011. iii Ben Bagdikian iv v TABLE OF CONTENTS—BEN BAGDIKIAN Interview History by Lisa Rubens xi Interview 1: May 18, 2010 [Audio File 1] 1 Family background in Turkey—Born in 1920 during Turkish attack on Armenian community—Migrating with family to the United States—Mother’s confinement at a tuberculosis sanitarium—Family settles in Massachusetts—Growing up in a Yankee town. [Audio File 2] 13 Life in an immigrant family—Reflections on the Depression and Franklin Roosevelt—From high school to Clark University—A neophyte collegiate journalist—A fateful interview leads to a job with the Springfield Morning Union—Volunteering for the Air Force after Pearl Harbor. Interview 2: May 25, 2010 [Audio File 3] 28 Experience as a first lieutenant in the Air Force stationed in the South— Observations about racial segregation—Marriage to Betty Ogasapian—Designing a navigation system—Remembering Roosevelt’s death—Response to the bombing of Hiroshima—Working for a travel magazine in New York—Joining the staff of the Providence Journal and Bulletin—Writing longer, in-depth stories. [Audio File 4] 40 Part of a Pulitzer Prize reporting team—The impact of McCarthyism personally and on reporting—Repercussion of joining the Newspaper Guild—A year abroad as a foreign correspondent—Becoming a freelance journalist—Reporting on the Middle East—Becoming the Washington Bureau Chief for the Providence Journal—Writing a series on traveling through the South with an African American reporter—Participatory journalism: following African-Americans moving North. Interview #3: June 1, 2010 [Audio File 5] 53 World War II and its aftermath as a catalyst for change in newspapers—The impact of television on news—Writing long and in-depth series for the vi Providence Journal and Bulletin—Becoming a media critic—Observations about discrimination against women in the press—Covering John F. Kennedy’s public and personal life—An aside on Jacqueline Kennedy—Becoming a contributing editor for The Saturday Evening Post—Working as national correspondent for the Columbia Journalism Review—Writing about and encounters with Lyndon Johnson. [Audio File 6] 66 A lesson from Abe Ribicoff—Writing for The New York Times Magazine— Covering the CIA—Reflecting on favorite writers and influential books— Receiving a Guggenheim fellowship—Becoming a Unitarian—Writing In the Midst of Plenty—Explaining the propitious financial climate for newspapers in the l960s—Writing for a variety of journals. Interview #4: June 15, 2010 [Audio File 7] 76 Discussing the legitimacy and politics of media criticism—More on writing for the Columbia Journalism Review and freelance journalism—Becoming a RAND Fellow—Meeting Daniel Ellsberg—Developing a research strategy to study the impact of new technology on news—Friendship with Otis Chandler and reflecting on the Los Angeles Times—Publication of Information Machines. [Audio File 8] 88 Recruited to be assistant managing editor of national news at The Washington Post—Reflections on the organizational structure of the Post—Working conditions and work culture at the Post. Interview #5: June 22, 2010 [Audio File 9] 94 Publishing the Pentagon Papers—Persistent rumors that The New York Times had a hot story—Scooped by The New York Times—Summoned by Daniel Ellsberg to retrieve two boxes of the Pentagon Papers—Emergency meeting at Ben Bradlee’s home—Assembling the documents, writing the stories, and debating the legal issues of publishing—The Post prints excerpts from the Pentagon Papers and then is enjoined by the district court—Reflecting on the appellate and Supreme Court decisions—Delivering a set of Pentagon Papers to Senator Mike Gravel—Writing What We Learned from the Pentagon Papers. vii [Audio File 10] 105 Reflections on the hostile political climate in Washington—Reviewing the issues at stake in the publication of the Pentagon Papers—Recalling acquaintance with Daniel Ellsberg at RAND—Competitive professional culture at the Post— Appointment as ombudsman for the Post. Interview #6: July 13, 2010 [Audio File 11] 113 Writing “Shame of the Prisons,” an investigative series for the Washington Post— Assuming the identity of a murderer and living behind bars—More about working as an ombudsman at The Washington Post—Newspaper unions—Conflict with Ben Bradlee and Katharine Graham. [Audio File 12] 125 Katharine Graham revises her opinion of Bagdikian—Writing The Effete Conspiracy. Interview #7: July 20, 2010 [Audio File 13] 128 More on the daily operation of The Washington Post—More on the duties of the ombudsman at The Washington Post—Leaving the Post—Chairing the Mellett Fund for a Free and Responsible Press—Serving on a screening panel for the National Endowment for the Humanities—Serving on Clark University’s Board of Directors—End of first marriage—Marriage to Betty Medsger. [Audio File 14] 138 An aside on Watergate—Conducting the Newspaper Survival Study—Writing Caged: Eight Prisoners and Their Keepers. Interview #8: July 27, 2010 [Audio File 15] 147 A few memories of Robert Maynard at The Washington Post and The Oakland Tribune—Championing the rights of women in the media—More on working for the Post—Reflections on the Newspaper Preservation Act—Genesis of The Media Monopoly—Reflections on UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism: joining the faculty; serving as dean; teaching a course on ethics. viii [Audio File 16] 158 Making profound decisions about life and death—Working for freedom of and equal access to information—Earning J. Edgar Hoover’s opprobrium—Creating the Data Center—Recounting research on the Sacco and Vanzetti case—Recalling interviewing John Service. Interview #9: August 3, 2010 [Audio File 17] 168 Reflecting on major influences on life and career. [Audio File 18] 180 More on Media Monopoly. Appendix Curriculum Vitae: Ben H. Bagdikian 187 ix Interview History: Lisa Rubens For more than a half-century Ben Bagdikian was the go-to person to get the straight story on civil rights, poverty and prisons, among a host of other social issues in the United States. He had long established his expertise in media criticism, but with his path-breaking book, Media Monopoly in 1983, he solidified his role as the pre-eminent critic in the field. A Google alert of his name continues to provide at least one or two notices every day. Bagdikian’s resume is broad and deep. He is first and foremost a working reporter who started at the Providence Journal in 1947. He retired as Dean Emeritus of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism in 1990 and then continued to write and publish--opinion pieces, introductions to books on media and journalism, updates and revisions of his classic on the monopolization of media. Along the way he was part of a team that received a Pulitzer Prize for daily reporting, a columnist for the Columbia Journalism Review, a feature writer for many important magazines in the U.S. –including Saturday Review and Time- a fellow at the RAND Institute, and the author of six books. He has been the recipient of numerous prizes and, and a leading figure in organizations dedicated to freedom of the press. Mother Jones magazine sponsors an internship program in his name. At 90, Bagdikian still keeps up with the daily national and international news; he compares the Wikileaks story to his own history-making role in publishing the Pentagon Papers, secret US government documents about the Vietnam War in 1971–which he narrates in the best cloak-and- dagger fashion. Students now working around the country call or e-mail to solicit his opinion for their own work.