Customer Reviews

Rather Dumb: A Top Tabloid Reporter Tells CBS How to Do News

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Mike Walker is an editor for the National Enquirer but don't turn your nose up and pass this book by because in a very funny and razor sharp way he explains what the heck went wrong with Dan Rather and tells how the last few huge media misconduct stories happend.

Things go wrong, Walker points out when reporters or editors give in to hubris. Arrogance can make you make stupid mistakes. Falling in love with a story can be a disaster. Ruling a newsroom or the reporting staff with fear can lead to trouble andrelying on too many anonymous sources and accepting copies of documents are also iditotic.

Walker talks about Janet Cook, who won a Pulitzer for a fake story, Jack Kelly who told spectacular tall tales and finally Jayson Blair who could've been stopped long before his last act of plagarism. Finally, he gets back to Dan Rather and serves him up like a Christmas ham.

Mike Walker comes from the tabloids but the Media elite would be well advised to swallow some pride and take his advice.

When you hear Mike Walker on the radio and see him on TV he always seems to be such a nice guy. I even met him once and he was genuinely nice. So when I saw the title to this book I thought it was "Rather Mean." But after reading the book, you realize Mike Walker is not trying to be mean at all. He seriously scrutinizes this whole Rathergate affair as if Dan Rather were on trial and Mike Walker was the judge. I also didn't expect this book to be so damn funny --- but it is! This book made me shed more than a few tears laughing.

I remember reading Walker's O.J. Simpson book that caused Judge Ito to stop the trial and that was quite a page-turner, but I really think he has hit his stride with this hilarious polemic. I actually found myself laughing out loud throughout the book and reading passages to my wife. I enjoy listening to his Mike Walker Game on Howard Stern and he is always entertaining when he pops up on TV, but reading him rake Rather over the coals for using faked documents that a journalism student would have taken the time to verify is thoroughly enjoyable. Walker reveals a lot of bizarre things that I never knew about Dan Rather. I am no fan of President Bush and wondered if Walker might have some sort of right wing agenda, but that notion was shattered in a final chapter that hits you like a sledge hammer. Overall, this book is eminently readable and worth your time.

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of Mr. Walker's book on the shameful Dan Rather and his cronies at CBS. I have admired Mike's snarky and sarcastic writing through his National Enquirer columns, but Rather Dumb tops any of his previous writings. His insightful analysis of what's wrong with "mainstream" journalism today is written in a snarky and hillarious style that's guaranteed to have you laughing out loud.

This is a must read for anyone in the news media, as well as for all students contemplating a career in journalism. Mike Walker's smartly written, informative and amusing book should be mandatory reading in university journalism and communications programs. It's the best damn text on the business, period! Even seasoned newsfolk (Dan Rather and the entire CBS News division maybe?) could learn more than a few things from Walker. Bravo, Tabloid Boy!

The notion of a National Enquirer columnist chastising network uber-anchor Dan Rather might strike some as odd, but in his book Walker skillfully demonstrates that he and his publication pay far more attention to accuracy and credibility in their reporting than so-called "mainstream journalists." A breezy, well-written, downright funny look at Rather and other bungling members of the media elite.

I found this book to be hugely entertaining and very funny. Some detail is missing and the book was published before the final report. It would be nice if Walker added a chapter. Walker makes a convincing case that the standards at the National Enquirer are FAR superior to the lax (read: no) journalistic standards at cBS. The arrogant, buffoonish Mr. Rather richly deserves the scorn this book heaps upon him.

Having read several books over the years regarding CBS and, specifically, their "star" anchor, this one by far is the most entertaining. Mike Walker brings to the book all the outrageous flair that he would bring his National Enquirer readers.

"Rather Dumb" brings back memories of Dan marching off the set, his big interview with George Bush Sr., and his bizarre mugging ("What's the frequency, Kenneth?").

The final (third or so) part of the book deals with the Texas Air National Guard memo "gate" controversy. While the results of the investigation and the firings of Mary Mapes and other CBS employees occur after the book was published, all of the info contained is "on the money".

Courage.

Yes. It is hard some to believe. The aggressive nature of tabloid journalism is no different than the style of aggressive NY Times journalism.

Mr. Walker has inside contacts and resources that rival other top journalists. To deride his work just because he works the National Enquirer is nebulous and plain stupid.

The CBS news division has fallen from the top of the mountain into the mud of despair. CBS' lack of credibility has never in its history been so low.

The question has nothing to do with Mike Walker's ability to get resources and write BUT Dan Rather's despotic and demonizing efforts in running CBS.

Mike Walker printed an article in his column about three months ago that stated that Ice-T was going to revive the career of David Hasselhoff by making him into a rap star called Hassel-the Hoff. No kidding. Its there. Google it. The only thing is...Ice T knew nothing about it and it turned out to be a false story. I took this in stride since it was in the National Enquirer and Mike Walker wasn't what I considered a "journalist". I even pictured Mike Walker as not even considering himself a journalist. I thought of him, and admired him at the time, for being some one on the fringes of the press just having a good time enjoying his Irish fortune.

Well, as I've come to find out, I was very very wrong. When I saw "Rather Dumb" on the shelf in the book store, I almost didn't bother until I saw that it was done by Mike Walker. So, I opened it up, and...at first I enjoyed it.

Now, let me get a few things out of the way...
I support George Bush. I work for CBS. I like Mike Walker. I can't stand Dan Rather for nearly sinking the network I work for and endangering the stock that I'm betting my old age on. I'm not a liberal in any way, there's nothing wrong with being a liberal, however, I'm not one.

Now that that's out of the way, I have to say "Rather Dumb" is a huge let down. Maybe its the Irish in me, but, I was always taught that if you come out swinging, don't pull your punches. I got the humor that Mike Walker was going for, and pretty much enjoyed the first twenty pages of the book because I started to feel the way I felt when I watched a Mike Tyson fight in the late eighties, back when Tyson cared. But somewhere along the line, Buster Douglas came and went and Tyson never threw a punch worth dodging again. That's basically how the rest of the book went. I won't ruin it for you, there are some funny parts, but Dan Rather really needs a good clobbering, and this just wasn't the book to do it. It could have been.

Mike Walker could have written a great document about the downfall of Dan Rather but has become a victim of all of the hubris and ego that he pokes fun at since he never bothers to fact check his own stories nor does he care how they might affect the subjects of his stories whether or not they are "public figures".

I understand that it's all about ratings, money, and ads, there's nothing wrong with that. I don't pretend my bread and butter comes from caring about the common man. But when a lazy journalist points a finger at another lazy journalist, there's four fingers pointing back at him. A near miss. Too bad.

Note to Mike Walker:When Dan Rather left, there really wasn't a vacuum created for stuffy self important people who suffered from white guilt and felt bad about making money off of ad revenue...so please don't fill it. Lighten up and get back to writing about Hassle-the Hoff and his next album!