while accepting the Allen H. Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism from the University of South Dakota in 1990.
“

Our country is wallowing in a miasma of political and class conflict, of greed and special interest, with regard to budget deficits, inflation and rising unemployment, the threats of both a bloody war and a devastating recession. How did we get into this mess? Because the press, during the 1980s committed one of the greatest crimes of the 20th century. The media took a dive, caved in, and did not tell the American people the price they would eventually pay for Reaganomics.

— Carl Rowan

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Our country is wallowing in a miasma of political and class conflict, of greed and special interest, with regard to budget deficits, inflation and rising unemployment, the threats of both a bloody war and a devastating recession. How did we get into this mess? Because the press, during the 1980s committed one of the greatest crimes of the 20th century. The media took a dive, caved in, and did not tell the American people the price they would eventually pay for Reaganomics." in the context of "while accepting the Allen H. Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism from the University of South Dakota in 1990." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Carl Rowan" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Carl Rowan

About Carl Rowan

Carl Rowan (August 11, 1925 - September 23, 2000) columnist and former ambassador.