Check it Out! Great Reporters on What It Takes to Tell the Story

by Athens, Art

• ISBN13: 9780823223534
• ISBN10: 0823223531
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-01
• Publisher: Fordham University Press

Summary

Stories with no substance. Talking heads without a clue. "Team" coverage that still misses the big picture. Overheated hype. Cute chatter. Film at eleven. Is it any wonder more and more of us count less and less on the news?"It used to be that a news story told you who, what, where, when, how, and why," Art Athens writes. "Now the story might tell you who, or it might tell you when, but there's a good chance that when it's over (which won't take long), you'll be the one saying What?"Here's a legendary journalist's back to the basics guide to the craft of broadcast news. Combining insights from his own award-winning career with in-depth conversations with leading newspeople, Art Athens offers a primer on the best practices in reporting, writing, and delivering the news.And he lets some of the best in the business talk frankly and passionately about what it takes to do the job right: Dan Rather, Charles Osgood, Mike Wallace, Brian Williams, Andy Rooney, Charles Kuralt, Linda Ellerbee, and Don Hewitt.What kind of skills--and spirit--does it take to be a successful, serious broadcast journalist? How are the good stories conceived and written? And in today's cynical age of news as entertainment, what should reporters and editors do to restore confidence in the media? In this funny, sharp, honest book, anyone who cares about the news will find answers on every page.

Author Biography

Art Athens spent 40 years as a print and broadcast journalist, including 25 years at WCBS, New York City's all-news station. The winner of Pew and Columbia/Peabody awards for excellence, he died in 2000.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Preface	xi
All I Ever Wanted to Be	1	(17)
What It Takes to Excel
Curiosity
Common Threads
It's Not as Easy as It Looks
There Is No Free Lunch
Money's Not the Motivator
``It'': What Ya Gotta Have	18	(11)
The Litmus Test Choices
Hankering to Be Anchoring	29	(5)
``I Wanna Be a Star''
Tell Me a Story	34	(15)
What Every Reporter Needs to Do, and How to Do It
Do You Qualify?
Making the Right Choices
Look the Other Way
What They See Is What You Get
The Acid Test
The Blank Page
So What's News?	49	(22)
Don't Ask!
Top of the Hour
Used News
Nielsen Ratings Horror: They Know Where You Live!
Story Lines and Battle Lines
The Gentle Giant
Coochy, Coochy, Coo	71	(7)
Milking the Baby
World's Most Notorious Tease Debunked---Film at Eleven
Is That Fair?	78	(18)
An Objectivity Test
Bond (Not James)
Fact or Fiction
Wireitis (Y-Er-Eye'-Tis)	96	(9)
An Infectious Newsroom Disease
Who Do We Think We Are?
To Act or Not to Act: That is the Debate	105	(17)
The Osgood Files
How Can They Ask That?	122	(12)
Questioning the Questioners
The Story of ``Oh''
A Matter of Style
Don't Quote Me, But
Get Your News From Us	134	(16)
We're Not Too Bad!
Substance Makes the Smart Go Wander
A Penny for a Complete Thought?
Size Is Important!
Speaking of Managers, and We Were. . .
Is Your Underwear Showing?
Take Two Anecdotes and Call Me in the Morning
It's the Writing, Stupid!	150	(8)
The Pen Is Mightier Than the Picture Names to Remember
If Your Mother Tells You She Loves You, Check It Out!	158	(11)
Dumb and Dumber? Not Quite
Got the Goods?
Stay Out of It!
Be Careful What You Write---You May Have to Read It
Begin at the Beginning
To Hell in a Hand Basket? Not If We Can Help It!
Persistence, Gumption, and a Bulletproof Ego
Looking Forward to the Good Old Days
Epilogue	169	(4)
Contributors	173	(16)
Index	189