Reporter Timothy Crouse's behind-the-scenes coverage of the political press corps during the 1972 presidential campaign. An enlightening study in journalism and the political process. Photographs, Index.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Political spin-doctoring has become something of an art form in the last few decades. It was less artful in the early years of the information age, and Crouse's entertaining look at the attempts of both the Nixon and McGovern '72 campaign staffs to control the media seems almost comical, so poor were they at the image-and-sound bite manipulation that now defines our politics. Crouse is a serious-minded journalist, however, and his firsthand report on how political news is made and shaped remains important reading. Check out Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 for a more madcap view of the same matters.
Review
“All the secrets . . . the definitive story.”
—The Washington Post
“Provokes, perplexes, illuminates and amuses.”
—Newsweek
“An extremely insightful and provocative book.”
—New York
“Crouse takes a big bite out of the hand that
feeds news to America——a mean, funny,
absolutely honest book!”
—Hunter S. Thompson
“Marvelously entertaining . . . There is no better way to
find out just how the news . . . reaches us.”
—The Boston Globe
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
—The Washington Post
“Provokes, perplexes, illuminates and amuses.”
—Newsweek
“An extremely insightful and provocative book.”
—New York
“Crouse takes a big bite out of the hand that
feeds news to America——a mean, funny,
absolutely honest book!”
—Hunter S. Thompson
“Marvelously entertaining . . . There is no better way to
find out just how the news . . . reaches us.”
—The Boston Globe
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By D
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This book is an account of the 1972 presidential campaign. Crouse's account set the standard for books about presidential campaigns; a standard that has not yet been beaten.
The 1972 campaign involved the first real attempt by campaigns to spin-doctor the press and American people during a campaign. Previously, we left that to the already elected.
The 1972 campaign also marked the first real attempt by networks to create stars out of reporters. This network tactic has continued unabated until the present. In fact, recent studies have reported that reporters now receive much more air time than the actual candidates.
Crouse's book is essential reading for political junkies as well as history buffs. The 1972 election was truly a watershed event which continued through the Watergate era.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Crouse's groundbreaking book on the 1972 Presidential campaign was reveolutionary in the way it covered the reporters who covered the election. This was the first step in to turning these reporters into "stars" in their own right. Who can doubt today that the visibility one gets from being a reporter on a successful Presidential campaign can transform you into a highly paid and visible "talking head." Crouse's book is well written, informative and quite amusing, which is appropriate since he spent the campaign hanging out with the immortal Hunter S. Thompson. A must for political junkies.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This brilliantly conceived and executed book pulled back the curtain on the culture of covering presidential campaigns much like Theodore White's The Making of the President before it. Smooth and seemless prose is marred only slightly by the contrived tactic of attempting one line physical descriptions of principals "a bull of a man," "a lovely and smart woman," etc.
Structurally, the book proceeds from the failed Muskie campaign and an introduction of some of the icons of the industry at the time (two, David Broder and Robert Novak, must be packed in ice every night and only thawed out to give television appearences, such is their longevity) to Nixon's campaign, the not yet completed Watergate investigation of Woodward and Bernstein, and then finally the doomed McGovern campaign once again. The technique is man on the scene, interspersed with set interviews in which the interviewer is an actor.
Crouse's classic is entertaining and informative. It is entertaining because of the colorful portraits of a gang of mostly fun loving guys and a few jerks, and informative because it shows that the true bias of the press is an establishment bias, much more complicated than a simple left-right dichotomy, it's the institutional pressures of the job that leads to the press's often distorted views. Yes, the reporters trend liberal, but the editors and publishers trend conservative, and in recent years the line has blurred between the interests of the publishers and their employees. These guys are not scrappily taking in about the same salary as a bus driver or construction worker anymore, their vibe is much more movie star. Yet now as then, the real distortion is the pack mentality and fear of being the outlier in coverage, suspect by editors with no other framework for evaluation. We've become much more aware of this in recent years, with discussion of the press's "meta-narrative," an overarching theme like "Bush dumb" or "Kerry flip-flops," or yet more infamously, the fiasco of weapons of mass destruction, but it is still instructive to see a character study into the precise details of how it happens.
Hunter Thompson's book on the same campaign "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72" provides a good contrast to this book, as does Norman Mailer's "Miami and the Siege of Chicago : An Informal History of the Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1968." Both are worth examining if you are interested in politics and the period.
Structurally, the book proceeds from the failed Muskie campaign and an introduction of some of the icons of the industry at the time (two, David Broder and Robert Novak, must be packed in ice every night and only thawed out to give television appearences, such is their longevity) to Nixon's campaign, the not yet completed Watergate investigation of Woodward and Bernstein, and then finally the doomed McGovern campaign once again. The technique is man on the scene, interspersed with set interviews in which the interviewer is an actor.
Crouse's classic is entertaining and informative. It is entertaining because of the colorful portraits of a gang of mostly fun loving guys and a few jerks, and informative because it shows that the true bias of the press is an establishment bias, much more complicated than a simple left-right dichotomy, it's the institutional pressures of the job that leads to the press's often distorted views. Yes, the reporters trend liberal, but the editors and publishers trend conservative, and in recent years the line has blurred between the interests of the publishers and their employees. These guys are not scrappily taking in about the same salary as a bus driver or construction worker anymore, their vibe is much more movie star. Yet now as then, the real distortion is the pack mentality and fear of being the outlier in coverage, suspect by editors with no other framework for evaluation. We've become much more aware of this in recent years, with discussion of the press's "meta-narrative," an overarching theme like "Bush dumb" or "Kerry flip-flops," or yet more infamously, the fiasco of weapons of mass destruction, but it is still instructive to see a character study into the precise details of how it happens.
Hunter Thompson's book on the same campaign "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72" provides a good contrast to this book, as does Norman Mailer's "Miami and the Siege of Chicago : An Informal History of the Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1968." Both are worth examining if you are interested in politics and the period.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Jump Aboard the Magic Bus
There is an old maxim that the more things change, the more they stay the same. In The Boys on the Bus by Timothy Crouse, you literary are thrown into the 1971 Presidential Race,... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Dr. Wilson Trivino
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grea reliable seller
The book was in better condition then I expected, and it arrived right away. I would definitely do business with this vendor, and I highly recommend him/her/them.
Published on February 12, 2010 by kris kros
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, dated look at Political Reporting
Timothy Crouse was one of the first to report on the pack journalism covering a Presidential campaign. Read more
Published on November 1, 2008 by K.A.Goldberg
3.0 out of 5 stars
on the campaign trail
Crouse details life on the campaign trail, the network of people working together and against eachother in the world of politics. Read more
Published on December 14, 2007 by William D. Tompkins
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sleepless In...Where Are We?
If you wonder how folks like Steve Inskeep at NPR can sound so refreshing, hour after hour, getting up before the crack of dawn, then wonder how the reporters assigned to cover the... Read more
Published on June 3, 2007 by Neil Cotiaux
3.0 out of 5 stars
Two made a huge crowd in Nixon's campaign
Timothy Crouse covered the 1972 presidential campaign. It was a lousy campaign. George McGovern stoodn't any chance against president Richard Nixon. Read more
Published on June 2, 2007 by L.. Oost
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engrossing and Influential
The Boys on the Bus is a very entertaining look at the reporters covering the 1972 election and the system in which they worked in. Read more
Published on January 6, 2007 by Thomas Stamper
4.0 out of 5 stars
Before Jon Stewart there was...
Imagine Jon Stewart (minus the constant snark) wrote a book about the White House press corps and political journalism generally as they covered the presidential contest in 1972... Read more
Published on May 5, 2005 by Lord Huggington
4.0 out of 5 stars
A bit out-dated now, but still a good read
This book is a bit outdated, given the gender mix in the press corps now. But it still provides a good insight into the minds of reporters, especially those covering national... Read more
Published on July 23, 1998
4.0 out of 5 stars
A detailed behind-the-scenes look at political journalism
This book doesn't necessarily analyze news coverage of political campaigns, but it describes what it is like to be there and be a part of it. Read more
Published on July 21, 1998
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 14
books:
See all 14 books this book cites
97
books
cite this book:
See all 97 books citing this book
- Kingdom and the Power by Gay Talese on page 79, and page 95
- The Nixon watch by John Osborne on page 220, and page 221
- The Selling of the President: The Classical Account of the Packaging of a Candidate by Joe McGinniss on page 198, and page 321
- The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam in Front Matter
- Christian Science (Skeptic's Bookshelf) by Mark Twain on page 40
See all 14 books this book cites
- Campaigns and Conscience: The Ethics of Political Journalism (Praeger Series in Political Communication) by Philip Seib on 8 pages
- Campaigns and Conscience: The Ethics of Political Journalism by Philip Seib on 8 pages
- Out of Order: An incisive and boldly original critique of the news media's domination of America's political process by Thomas E. Patterson on 7 pages
- Subject to Change: Guerrilla Television Revisited by Deirdre Boyle on 6 pages
- Subject to Change: Guerrilla Television Revisited by Deirdre Boyle on 6 pages
See all 97 books citing this book
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