--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the…" description: "\"Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's St Matthew Passion on a ukulele: The instrument is t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffa/ben-bagdikian-58676_audience_trying-to-be-a-first-rate-reporter-on-th_1973899.png" --- # Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American… ![“Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's St Matthew Passion on a ukulele: The instrument is too crude for the work, for the audience and for the performer.” quote by Ben Bagdikian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffa/ben-bagdikian-58676_audience_trying-to-be-a-first-rate-reporter-on-th_1973899.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffa/ben-bagdikian-58676_audience_trying-to-be-a-first-rate-reporter-on-th_1973899.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffa/ben-bagdikian-58676_audience_trying-to-be-a-first-rate-reporter-on-th_1973899.png) > “Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's St Matthew Passion on a ukulele: The instrument is too crude for the work, for the audience and for the performer.” [Ben Bagdikian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bagdikian/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reporting for a mediocre newspaper is like attempting a complex masterpiece on an inadequate instrument, limiting both creator and audience. **In simple terms:** Poor media limits expression and impact. Key Takeaway Seek platforms that match your ambition. Themes media quality artistry Mood critical reflective Type analytical thought‑provoking When to use this quote - career choices - media reform - creative expression Key Concepts journalism audience expectations Questions to Reflect On - What compromises do you make for a wider audience? - Can quality ever thrive in a low‑resource setting? A Different Perspective Even good writers can be constrained by low‑budget outlets. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Audience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Matthew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matthew/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Performers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performers/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Reporter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reporter/) [Reporters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reporters/) [St matthew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/st-matthew/) [Ukulele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ukulele/) ## Related quotes > [An important document of the paper of record at a crucial, make-or-break juncture in its long, glorious history, and a love letter to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-rabin/an-important-document-of-the-paper-of-record-at-a-crucial-make-or/) [Nathan Rabin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-rabin/) > [To the best of my knowledge and belief, the average American newspaper, even of the so-called better sort, is not only quite as bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/to-the-best-of-my-knowledge-and-belief-the-average-american-newspaper-2/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Throughout all ranks of society, from the successful merchant, which is the highest, to the domestic serving man, which is the lowest, they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/throughout-all-ranks-of-society-from-the-successful-merchant-which-is/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [I grew up in the traditional American newspaper world with a morning paper and an afternoon paper competing with each other beat by beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-baquet/i-grew-up-in-the-traditional-american-newspaper-world-with-a-morning/) [Dean Baquet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-baquet/) > [To the best of my knowledge and belief, the average American newspaper, even of the so-called better sort, is not only quite as bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/to-the-best-of-my-knowledge-and-belief-the-average-american-newspaper/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Reading a newspaper is like reading someone's letters, as opposed to a biography or a history. The writer really does not know what will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/reading-a-newspaper-is-like-reading-someone-s-letters-as-opposed-to-a/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [A city with one newspaper... is like a man with one eye, and often the eye is glass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-liebling/a-city-with-one-newspaper-is-like-a-man-with-one-eye-and-often-the/) [A. J. Liebling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-liebling/) > [Reading someone else's newspaper is like sleeping with someone else's wife. Nothing seems to be precisely in the right place, and when you find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-bradbury/reading-someone-else-s-newspaper-is-like-sleeping-with-someone-else-s/) [Malcolm Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-bradbury/) > [Anyone anywhere - as long as you live in a country that does not censor the Internet - can now read this newspaper. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-boot/anyone-anywhere-as-long-as-you-live-in-a-country-that-does-not-censor/) [Max Boot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-boot/) > [Saying the Washington Post is just a newspaper is like saying Rasputin was just a country priest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/saying-the-washington-post-is-just-a-newspaper-is-like-saying/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The relationship between truth and a newspaper is like the relationship between the color green and the number seven. Occasionally you will see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/the-relationship-between-truth-and-a-newspaper-is-like-the/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [When you're a kid, you see your parents reading the newspaper and you're like, 'God, why are they reading the newspaper?' When you're young,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/when-you-re-a-kid-you-see-your-parents-reading-the-newspaper-and-you/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [Writing for a newspaper is like running a revolutionary war. You go to battle not when you are ready, but when action offers itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/writing-for-a-newspaper-is-like-running-a-revolutionary-war-you-go-to/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/go-therefore-and-make-disciples-of-all-the-nations/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [“Artist Matthew Barney has made a film about “shit”. It is hardly original. Hollywood has made shit films for decades.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/artist-matthew-barney-has-made-a-film-about-shit-it-is-hardly/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) ## More by Ben Bagdikian > [By now, the corporations that dominate our media, like alcoholic fat cats, treat this situation as theirs by right... Their concept of a diversity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bagdikian/by-now-the-corporations-that-dominate-our-media-like-alcoholic-fat/) [Ben Bagdikian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bagdikian/) > [Letting a maximum number of views be heard regularly is not just a nice philosophical notion. It is the best way any society has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bagdikian/letting-a-maximum-number-of-views-be-heard-regularly-is-not-just-a/) [Ben Bagdikian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bagdikian/) > [In the US, voters cast ballots for individual candidates who are not bound to any party program except rhetorically, and not always then. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bagdikian/in-the-us-voters-cast-ballots-for-individual-candidates-who-are-not/) [Ben Bagdikian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bagdikian/) > [The safest way to ensure diversity of opinion is diverse ownership. But this ideal has been sacrificed by our government...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bagdikian/the-safest-way-to-ensure-diversity-of-opinion-is-diverse-ownership/) [Ben Bagdikian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bagdikian/) [Explore all 5 Ben Bagdikian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bagdikian/) ## More Audience quotes > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. 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