"I don't know when network executives will get out of the Dark Ages"
About this Quote
A line like this lands because it’s framed as exasperated bewilderment, not a carefully argued indictment. “I don’t know when” isn’t literal uncertainty; it’s a journalist’s way of saying: you’ve had ample time, and you’re still choosing not to evolve. Connie Chung aims the jab squarely at gatekeepers - the network executives who decide whose voices get airtime, whose stories get softened, and which talent gets promoted or sidelined.
“Dark Ages” is doing blunt cultural work. It’s not a neutral critique of strategy or ratings; it’s a moral accusation, a shorthand for entrenched, old-boy decision-making and institutional fear of change. Coming from Chung, the subtext is inseparable from media history: the era when networks were loudly modern on screen and quietly archaic behind it. Her career unfolded through the high-gloss age of broadcast authority, when women and people of color could be visible yet still treated as exceptions, liabilities, or “difficult” for wanting parity. The quote reads like a refusal to keep performing gratitude for access.
It also functions as a power move. Chung doesn’t plead for inclusion; she mocks the legitimacy of those withholding it. By casting executives as temporally behind, she flips the hierarchy: they may control budgets and bookings, but they look small, provincial, and embarrassed by time itself. The real target isn’t one decision - it’s a culture that confuses caution with wisdom.
“Dark Ages” is doing blunt cultural work. It’s not a neutral critique of strategy or ratings; it’s a moral accusation, a shorthand for entrenched, old-boy decision-making and institutional fear of change. Coming from Chung, the subtext is inseparable from media history: the era when networks were loudly modern on screen and quietly archaic behind it. Her career unfolded through the high-gloss age of broadcast authority, when women and people of color could be visible yet still treated as exceptions, liabilities, or “difficult” for wanting parity. The quote reads like a refusal to keep performing gratitude for access.
It also functions as a power move. Chung doesn’t plead for inclusion; she mocks the legitimacy of those withholding it. By casting executives as temporally behind, she flips the hierarchy: they may control budgets and bookings, but they look small, provincial, and embarrassed by time itself. The real target isn’t one decision - it’s a culture that confuses caution with wisdom.
Quote Details
| Topic | Management |
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