"A viable media system in a democratic society must provide two things: One, we need a journalism that will provide a rigorous accounting of people who are in power or people who want to be in power, both in the public and the private sector. And second, it should provide a wide range of informed opinions on the important social and political issues of the day."

Robert McChesney, Rich Media, Poor Democracy

"The world is made up of stories, not atoms.

Muriel Rukeyser

"Communication is about being a good storyteller, and mass communication is about telling the story in ways that take full advantage of the medium."

Lawrence Wallack, News for a Change: An Advocate’s Guide to Working with the Media

"The press is no substitute for institutions. It is like the beam of a searchlight that moves restlessly about, bringing one episode and then another out of darkness into vision. Men cannot do the work of the world by this light alone. They cannot govern society by episodes, incidents, and eruptions. It is only when they work by a steady light of their own that the press, when it is turned about them, reveals a situation intelligible enough for a popular decision."

Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion

"The press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful much of the time in telling people what to think about."

Bernard Cohen

"Out of sight, out of mind is the old adage. Out of media, out of mind is now the rule."

The GAP Media Project

"Our attitude is, 'we're doing God's work,' so we assume reporters will come to us. 'We're squeezing every last dollar. We're so busy doing our work. We can't spend the time to communicate our mission.'"

Thom Clark, Community Media Workshop, Chicago

"Consistency is what most nonprofits really are missing. Once you get your name out there regularly, you build up your reputation and gaining attention becomes much easier."

Laura Barrett, Housing Comes First coalition, Missouri

"Two nuclear power plant manufacturers own two of our national networks - General Electric owns NBC, and Westinghouse now owns CBS. The other network is owned by a cartoon company: Disney owns ABC."

US Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader

"It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words and words can be molded until they clothe ideas in disguise."

Joseph Goebbels

"The daily tonnage output of propaganda and publicity... has become an important force in American life. Nearly half of the contents of the best newspapers is derived from publicity releases; nearly all the contents of lesser papers... is directly or indirectly the product of PR departments."

Fortune magazine, 1949

"Persuasion, by its definition, is subtle. The best PR ends up looking like news. You never know when a PR agency is being effective; you’ll just find your views slowly shifting."

A PR executive quoted in John Stauber’s Toxic Sludge is Good for You

"Failing to provide witnesses... will lead to media efforts to obtain interviews on their own, either outside the gates or at the local watering hole. Control is the important element here."

Harold Burson of Burson-Marsteller, the world’s largest PR firm

"Right now the environmental movement is a perfect bogeyman for us. In order to get people to join and donate money [to us] we need opposition."

Alan Gottleib, Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise

"The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy."

Alex Carey, Taking the Risk Out of Democracy