It's News to Me: The Making and Unmaking of an Editor [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Edward Kosner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2007

Edward Kosner's stunning, articulate journalism memoir ranks with the tradition of important tell-alls like Cass Canfield, Howell Raines, and Ben Bradlee. Kosner, whiz-kid star at Newsweek, editor of New York Magazine, editor of the New York Daily News, editor of Esquire, gives us the inside scoop on Kay Graham, Mort Zuckerman, Tina Brown, and many others — and provides as well a primer for aspiring and veteran journalists alike. No one, before or since, has achieved the kind of influence in the world of New York's print media that Kosner did; here is an intimate description of the experiences that built one of the industry's most talented editors. From his beginnings in World War II-era Washington Heights, to his days on college publications, to his position at the helm of several of New York's leading news publications, Kosner provides a clear narrative of his life's course, peppering the way with his singular perspective and poignant memories, offering irresistible, well-written fodder for media aficionados.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this smart and savvy memoir, Kosner tells of his life in the news business. He traces his career in publishing, from his first break in 1958 just out of college at the New York Post (where he later schooled Pete Hamill) to his prickly relationship with publishing icon Katharine Graham at Newsweek (she fired him) and his meteoric rise running some of publishing's most stellar venues. As editor of New York magazine and Esquire, Kosner vaulted those magazines to their zeniths. And Kosner was at the editor's helm of the New York Daily News the day the twin towers fell. A scrawny smart-ass from Manhattan's Washington Heights, Kosner has rubbed many a publisher the wrong way, including Graham, Rupert Murdoch and Mort Zuckerman; yet he was a consummate newsman and intuitive editor who helped shaped 40 years of New York journalism. Full of political and impolitic detail and leaving no magnate undished, Kosner bridges the time between Remingtons, cold type and the blogosphere.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Kosner has helmed some of the best-known and best-regarded publications in the U.S., including Newsweek, New York magazine, the New York Daily News, and Esquire. In this absorbing memoir, he recalls the long road from a quirky childhood in Washington Heights to work on the newspaper at City College of New York to the "low rent" life of tabloid journalism at the New York Post. He recounts the emotional numbness that he has employed while working on major news stories, from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to 9/11, as well as the musical chairs of the New York media scene. Tina Brown, Rupert Murdoch, and Mort Zuckerman are among the temperamental media moguls and writers Kosner recalls as he looks back over a long career in journalism and offers an assessment of how the profession is faring under pressure from scandals, fierce competition, and the advent of electronic media. Lovers of magazines and the New York media scene will appreciate this insider's look. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (October 25, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 1568583621
• ASIN: B001G8WIE6
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,983,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Memoir by An Journalistic Insider, January 21, 2007

By 

Charles J. Rector (Woodstock, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It's News to Me: The Making and Unmaking of an Editor (Hardcover)

The name of Edward Kosner will doubtless fail to ring a bell in the minds of most Americans. This is because Kosner was a journalistic insider in the Eastern Establishment who preferred to work behind the scenes and also did not write much in the line of columns or any other work that bore his name.

Edward Kosner held top editorial positions at such institutions as Esquire, New York, Newsweek and the New York Daily News. Kosner was in an excellent position to witness the ongoing decline of newspapers and newsmagazines as well as the rise of the Internet as a news source. Among other things, Kosner predicts that newspapers will increasingly become marginalized as a mass medium and come to have only a limited audience in what he calls the "educated elite."

Kosner's book is rich in insight into the state of journalism today and about the practitioners of modern journalism. This is a most important book and as such is warmly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The molding of an editor, March 18, 2007

By 

William D. Tompkins (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It's News to Me: The Making and Unmaking of an Editor (Hardcover)

Mr Kosner details his rise to become an editor at several journalist institutions. The best part of this book is how he describes the non-glorifying and very anti-climatic process of being fired. it is never easy ona person and this author described that perfectly. The ending of this book which lists several traits that should define a person are an extra bonus with this book. It was smart to include in this book.

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read for journalists, November 13, 2008

By 

KenCarpenter.com (Windermere, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's News to Me: The Making and Unmaking of an Editor (Paperback)

Should be mandatory reading for all editors and wannabe editors. Lots of name-dropping fluff, but plenty of newsroom insider tips and tricks.