Robert Thompson Quotes on Media & News (8 Quotes)

In print media, the only one that's a growth industry is the celebrity magazines.

The good news is that, today, adults can watch programs that were way better than before. We can watch 'The Sopranos' and 'Deadwood' and 'Sex and the City' and other really interesting, emotionally complex shows that I would not in a million years suggest watching with anybody younger than 14.

Geraldo was that voice in the news business who didn't mind giving his opinion . . . wore his heart and his opinions on his sleeve, ... Once upon a time, that was unusual. Now, turn on any cablecast and you'll see the same things. Geraldo is still a brand on its own . . . like Kleenex or Xerox . . . but there are a lot of people doing Geraldo these days.

Everyone was saying that ... network news was a dinosaur. Given the amount of attention to this story, I think it demonstrates that people still care about network news. It's not dead yet.

You can find volumes written about 'Citizen Kane' or 'The Wizard of Oz.' This movie has only been out for months the response has been almost immediate. The Internet has opened up to anyone with a computer the opportunity to discuss and analyze in a way that used to be open to the very few who had access to publication media.

The thing that science fiction does is what nobody on TV does - outside the news. It looks at the enormous issues of equality, war, feminism, racism, international relations - big, big stories ignored by mainstream TV for obvious reasons. Science fiction is the easiest way to deal with it.

When all the smoke is cleared, the way the evening news is done after (NBC's Tom) Brokaw, Rather and (ABC News's Peter) Jennings will look very similar to how it looked before -- a single anchor reading the news, passing it to reporters who will do little pieces.

The equity of our celebrities now exceeds the equity of the media that gave them status in the first place. Film, television and radio are now so fragmented that the one thing we all share is the celebrities themselves. Celebrity has become the one common denominator.