Customer Reviews

CNN: The Inside Story: How a Band of Mavericks Changed the Face of Television News

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See first hand as CNN struggles to be objective in reporting, not as easy as one may think. There are many great stories in the book about the personalities which make up the news. There are lessons in reporting that are very applicable today. I found many parallels to the radio business. I recommend this book to any news reporter who cares about details.


A radio news reporter from Wisconsin

This is an absolutely great book for fans of CNN or anyone in the media. It contains tons of inspiring quotes and great behind-the-scenes stories.
I wouuld highly recommend it.

Creepy News Network: "CNN just interviewed a 28 yr old solider about to go on his 3rd tour of duty...a Ron Paul supporter...that Dana Bash pointed out how some people think Paul's ideas on military are dangerous...solider started complaining about picking fights with other countries and noted that Israel is capable of defending itself...then TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES!!!" says David Schatz.

http://youtu.be/Br5I3UcB5-A

For journalists and anyone with interest, this story is a real page-turner (I read it in one weekend), providing great insight into how CNN came to be. Its unlikely rise to the top of the TV news industry, under Ted Turner's direction and "wild" vision, is truly inspiring. I had to put the book down for a minute after reading about CNN's first day going live on the air on June 1, 1980. The author really places you in the exciting, tension-filled moment -- in an old, wobbly Atlanta studio with the anchors, producers and writers, all counting down to the launch of an impossible dream. The scene helped me understand the magnitude of this accomplishment.

As a multimedia journalist, I was pleased to learn that CNN's popular Video Journalist program/entry-level position has been a part of CNN's culture since its inception. According to the book, "VJs" didn't exist until CNN created them, as a way to save money on filming, reporting, and producing stories in the field. CNN's hybrid VJ was a cost-cutting strategy that has stuck over the decades.

The characters in the book ("the mavericks") are humanized and three-dimensional. Each maverick helps to tell the story via first-person passages. The author definitely makes this an entertaining read. There are as many funny bits of dialogue as there are tension-filled scenes where egos explode; many times, the young network's future hangs in the balance.

For CNN naysayers, I say read this book before your next anti-CNN rant. I'm not sure if reading it will make you like CNN any better. It might make you dislike the network even more. But you might find a few reasons to at least respect the vision it took to create the world's first 24-hour TV news network, against all odds, on a shoestring budget (in comparison to the then much fatter pockets of the Big Three Networks: CBS, NBC and ABC).

Even if you are a fan of CNN, I don't think you could possibly know WHY until you've read this book. It'll open your eyes to the great idea that is CNN, and help you explain to the naysayers why you like the network so much.

There was a time when CNN was a channel I watched regularly. Because they're so desperate for ratings, they've decided to ape Fox News. They have the drunk, psycho blowhard Nancy Disgrace. They have airheads like Robin Meade, who wears WAY TOO MUCH makeup and is as phony as the day is long ("Good Morning, Sunshine!" - she's talking to a REMOTE, UNMANNED TELEVISION CAMERA!) and Erica Hill (who wears her hair like as a stiff, UGLY helmet) who try and act like they're actually "there with you"; like they're your "friends". Very deceptive. To their credit, they did fire the bow-tied moron and Bill Hemmer. Thank God Judy Woodruff is gone (Hey, Larry King: FOLLOW HER LEAD!) They never should have hired Soledad O'Brien. It was a horrible mistake booting the sexy Paula Zahn from mornings. CNN and other 24 hr news channels are only at their best when providing live, unscripted coverage, where they don't have a chance to can their comments. Instead of providing REAL news, viewers are subjected to "human interest stories" like young blondes who go missing, exploiting them for all their worth. CNN is the equivalent of "reality" tv - which is to say: GARBAGE. If you want some real news visit Democracy Now - THAT'S worth watching.