--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I first came to think about media and…" description: "\"I first came to think about media and politics in the late 1960s, having observed some distortions up close, but since then I wouldn't say that my pers..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/todd-gitlin-16525_1960s_i-first-came-to-think-about-media-and-po_163341.jpg" --- # I first came to think about media and politics in the late… ![“I first came to think about media and politics in the late 1960s, having observed some distortions up close, but since then I wouldn't say that my personal experience has remained an important motive for my writing about media.” quote by Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/todd-gitlin-16525_1960s_i-first-came-to-think-about-media-and-po_163341.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/todd-gitlin-16525_1960s_i-first-came-to-think-about-media-and-po_163341.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/todd-gitlin-16525_1960s_i-first-came-to-think-about-media-and-po_163341.jpg) > “I first came to think about media and politics in the late 1960s, having observed some distortions up close, but since then I wouldn't say that my personal experience has remained an important motive for my writing about media.” [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author reflects that early personal encounters with media distortion sparked interest, but later work is driven more by broader analysis than personal experience. **In simple terms:** Early experiences sparked curiosity, now focus is broader. Key Takeaway Separate personal bias from scholarly analysis. Themes media politics personal experience writing motivation Mood reflective analytical Type explanatory critical When to use this quote - academic research - journalistic commentary - public policy discussions Key Concepts critical observation media analysis political communication Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure objectivity after personal involvement? - What broader factors now shape your analysis? A Different Perspective Personal anecdotes may limit objectivity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media/) [Motive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motive/) [Personal experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-experience/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I went through college in the 1960s without having any idea that I was going to have to make a living. When I graduated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-prose/i-went-through-college-in-the-1960s-without-having-any-idea-that-i/) [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) > [It was only with the emergence of the Conceptualist approaches of the late 1960s that the opposition between artists using photography and photographers became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-chevrier/it-was-only-with-the-emergence-of-the-conceptualist-approaches-of-the/) [Jean-Francois Chevrier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-chevrier/) > [The late 1960s was another time and another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/the-late-1960s-was-another-time-and-another-world/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [In the late 1960s, English artists like the Rolling Stones and Joe Cocker began recording in the States, and at that point, they realised,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-neville/in-the-late-1960s-english-artists-like-the-rolling-stones-and-joe/) [Morgan Neville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-neville/) > [I was like other teenagers in the late 1960s; I too was very interested in having an Afro and getting rid of the perm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-lelia-bundles/i-was-like-other-teenagers-in-the-late-1960s-i-too-was-very/) [A'Lelia Bundles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-lelia-bundles/) > [In the late 1960s, the masses were supposed to be passive, not entering into the public arena and having their voices heard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/in-the-late-1960s-the-masses-were-supposed-to-be-passive-not-entering/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [With hindsight, we recognize that the social and moral confusion of the late 1960s and early 1970s is part of a cultural cycle; we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-guinn/with-hindsight-we-recognize-that-the-social-and-moral-confusion-of/) [Jeff Guinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-guinn/) > [The problem of media/politics is multifold. Many things are out of whack.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kane-pappas/the-problem-of-media-politics-is-multifold-many-things-are-out-of/) [Robert Kane Pappas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kane-pappas/) > [Quite a lot has been written, including by me, about the effect of social media on politics, and in particular the way in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/quite-a-lot-has-been-written-including-by-me-about-the-effect-of/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [If you really think that ambition, power, lust, desire are not as applicable in the media as in politics or on Wall Street or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beau-willimon/if-you-really-think-that-ambition-power-lust-desire-are-not-as/) [Beau Willimon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beau-willimon/) > [We will continue to address things, but in as much as I want to talk about politics as they are related to social media,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hardwick/we-will-continue-to-address-things-but-in-as-much-as-i-want-to-talk/) [Chris Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hardwick/) > [I don't think anyone in the media thinks strategically about society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/i-don-t-think-anyone-in-the-media-thinks-strategically-about-society/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [A major feature of life at the NIH in late 1960s was the extraordinary offering of evening courses for physicians attempting to become scientists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-e-varmus/a-major-feature-of-life-at-the-nih-in-late-1960s-was-the/) [Harold E. Varmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-e-varmus/) > [“The late 1960s and the early 1970s were in fact a daunting time for corporate America and for those living off great corporate fortunes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-mayer/the-late-1960s-and-the-early-1970s-were-in-fact-a-daunting-time-for/) [Jane Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-mayer/) > [The social aspect of blogging is just as important as the content, so to borrow a phrase from the 1960s: the medium is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-powell/the-social-aspect-of-blogging-is-just-as-important-as-the-content-so/) [Mark Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-powell/) ## More by Todd Gitlin > [The genius of the economic machine is in its ability to convert these indulgences into profitability. It converts desire into attention, a grip on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/the-genius-of-the-economic-machine-is-in-its-ability-to-convert-these/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [All I will say is that there are particular features of the American constitutional system that renders a third party futile - at best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/all-i-will-say-is-that-there-are-particular-features-of-the-american/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [Human inertia makes the everyday environment, the furniture, as it were, appear to be a given.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/human-inertia-makes-the-everyday-environment-the-furniture-as-it-were/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [I don't for the life of me understand how anybody could contemplate the results of the 2000 election in the US and say that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/i-don-t-for-the-life-of-me-understand-how-anybody-could-contemplate/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [Right now, we have no possibility of politics because we have a one-party state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/right-now-we-have-no-possibility-of-politics-because-we-have-a-one/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [The mobilisation which Bush has been able to perform since 11 September 2001 has to be fought - at least by Americans - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/the-mobilisation-which-bush-has-been-able-to-perform-since-11/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [Navigation is power of a limited sort - it enables us to manage the immensity of the media torrent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/navigation-is-power-of-a-limited-sort-it-enables-us-to-manage-the/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [My book is focused on the power of the American state, not least because the government of the United States governs so much that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/my-book-is-focused-on-the-power-of-the-american-state-not-least/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [Mills insisted that a sociologist's proper subject was the intersection of biography and history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/mills-insisted-that-a-sociologist-s-proper-subject-was-the/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [Sure, I've often been misrepresented - anyone frequently quoted has this experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/sure-i-ve-often-been-misrepresented-anyone-frequently-quoted-has-this/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [A century of convulsive change leaves huge demographic gouge marks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/a-century-of-convulsive-change-leaves-huge-demographic-gouge-marks/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [If the Bible is a creation myth, it is an amorphous confusing one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/if-the-bible-is-a-creation-myth-it-is-an-amorphous-confusing-one/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [So every day I'm mindful as I watch the Bush crowd extend their sway into policies of every imaginable variety, and over almost every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/so-every-day-i-m-mindful-as-i-watch-the-bush-crowd-extend-their-sway/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [Some versions of patriotism come close to the tribal, which we all want to surpass, and some don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/some-versions-of-patriotism-come-close-to-the-tribal-which-we-all/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) > [Collectively, we are in thrall to media - because they deliver to us many of the psychic goods we crave, and we know no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/collectively-we-are-in-thrall-to-media-because-they-deliver-to-us/) [Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) [Explore all 39 Todd Gitlin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/) ## More 1960s quotes > [We do need different types of propulsion to get to Mars. I wrote one of the first Ph.D. theses on that in the 1960s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-do-need-different-types-of-propulsion-to-get-to-mars-i-wrote-one/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/each-year-more-than-100-000-high-school-graduates-with-proved-ability/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-likely-to-disappear-in-a/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [Sometimes a party must sail against the wind. We cannot heed the call of those who say it is time to furl the sail.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-kennedy/sometimes-a-party-must-sail-against-the-wind-we-cannot-heed-the-call/) [Edward Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-kennedy/) > [ \[In the 1960s\]...you could take LSD but you couldn't wear a pantsuit. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsey-johnson/in-the-1960s-you-could-take-lsd-but-you-couldn-t-wear-a-pantsuit/) [Betsey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsey-johnson/) > [Is it a coincidence that stories from the private life became more popular just as the grand hope for public redemption through revolution was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/is-it-a-coincidence-that-stories-from-the-private-life-became-more/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [I think the general anxiety of the 1960s - '70s spawned our interest in the living dead. When people worry about the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-brooks/i-think-the-general-anxiety-of-the-1960s-70s-spawned-our-interest-in/) [Max Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-brooks/) > [“A friend once told me a story about a former Black Panther leader in a Midwest community who in the 1960s had his phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-j-rodr-guez/a-friend-once-told-me-a-story-about-a-former-black-panther-leader-in/) [Luis J. Rodríguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-j-rodr-guez/) > [I was never bothered about my position in the industry. If I had believed in it, I wouldn't have allowed anyone to get ahead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dharmendra/i-was-never-bothered-about-my-position-in-the-industry-if-i-had/) [Dharmendra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dharmendra/) > [Under the system that we now have to nominate presidential candidates, for instance, I would prefer that we have a system that is closer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beschloss/under-the-system-that-we-now-have-to-nominate-presidential-candidates/) [Michael Beschloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beschloss/) > [My son Bill, who came to me in 1960-he was 14 then, quoted the old parable to me: "It is not by their words,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/my-son-bill-who-came-to-me-in-1960-he-was-14-then-quoted-the-old/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [There is a book called San Francisco Tape Music Centre:1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde and this book describes everything that you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/there-is-a-book-called-san-francisco-tape-music-centre-1960s/) [Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/) > [Much of the art of the 1960s, from body art to video and direct performance, was concerned with similar issues. And then there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/much-of-the-art-of-the-1960s-from-body-art-to-video-and-direct/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) > [I went through college in the 1960s without having any idea that I was going to have to make a living. When I graduated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-prose/i-went-through-college-in-the-1960s-without-having-any-idea-that-i/) [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) > [“At the beginning of a decade when everything was beginning to seem possible, nothing seemed impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-lee-shetterly/at-the-beginning-of-a-decade-when-everything-was-beginning-to-seem/) [Margot Lee Shetterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-lee-shetterly/) Browse all 486 1960s quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I first came to think about media and politics in the late 1960s, having observed some distortions up close, but since then I wouldn't say that my personal experience has remained an important motive for my writing about media.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Todd Gitlin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/i-first-came-to-think-about-media-and-politics-in-the-late-1960s/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "1960s" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/i-first-came-to-think-about-media-and-politics-in-the-late-1960s/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/todd-gitlin-16525_1960s_i-first-came-to-think-about-media-and-po_163341.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/todd-gitlin-16525_1960s_i-first-came-to-think-about-media-and-po_163341.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/todd-gitlin-16525_1960s_i-first-came-to-think-about-media-and-po_163341.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I first came to think about media and politics in the late 1960s, having observed some distortions up close…” — Todd Gitlin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Todd Gitlin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I first came to think about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/i-first-came-to-think-about-media-and-politics-in-the-late-1960s/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/i-first-came-to-think-about-media-and-politics-in-the-late-1960s/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```