In the wake of reports of plagiarism and story fabrications, public confidence in the media is at an all-time low. Mergers continue. Monopoly control is accelerating. More and more cities have only one paper. Newsroom budgets and staffs shrink. "Infotainment" replaces investigative journalism. Are the communication needs of a democratic society being best served under these conditions? Interview.

Ben Bagdikian
Ben Bagdikian is the winner of almost every top prize in American journalism, including the Pulitzer. He is the former dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. He is one of the most respected media critics in the country and has been a reporter and editor for more than thirty years. The New York Times has called him "an exemplar to a generation of journalists." His landmark book "The Media Monopoly" is now revised and updated with seven new chapters and retitled "The New Media Monopoly."