Risk and Redemption: Surviving the Network News Wars [Hardcover]

Arthur Kent (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

Risk and Redemption has enough risk for Ian Fleming or Tom Clancy, but it's all true. As for the redemption, the news business may be looking for some after the public reads this fine book.

From The New Yorker

A fabulous adventure story...an inspiration for all of us.

Kent's victory was astounding, proving that it is still possible for an individual to fight the largest and fiercest corporate dragons in America, and win. For journalists, the triumph was particularly remarkable because is was fought to a large extent on the issue of quality...

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: Interstellar (UK) (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9768056088
• ISBN-13: 978-9768056085
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,592,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you hate sensationalized news, you will love this book!, September 20, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Fountain Hills, Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Risk and Redemption: Surviving the Network News Wars (Hardcover)

I read this book expecting Arthur Kent to be arrogant but what I found was a dedicated journalist. Kent never wavered from his ethical standards. He took the giants at NBC to task for their disregard for him and others who believe that news should be reported with honesty and integrity--not for the corporate bottom line. His story is highly readable with the people he met in Afghanistan, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, and Tiananmen Square coming to life (and death) through Kent's compelling stories. When he files a lawsuit against the corporate giants, you too will be on his side. Kent deserved every cent he got. We should all put pressure on the media to give us worldwide news coverage presented by men and women who serve to provide us with the facts--not the sensation-packed news we see today. Marie Wilson ([e-mail]), Fountain Hills, Arizon

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warning - this book may induce thinking!, August 14, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Risk and Redemption: Surviving the Network News Wars (Hardcover)

Arthur Kent takes you on his compelling journey as a foreign news correspondent. His story is told with candor and self-effacing humor. Going from the treetops of Afghanistan to that infamous rooftop in Dhahran, you will be consumed by the bloody chaos of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Just when you think you can't be shocked anymore by scenes of war and destruction, political repression, natural disaster and apathy, the equally shocking truth of what goes on behind the scenes of broadcasting is exposed. This book makes you think, not just about what is happening in the world around us, but what or who determines how much we learn of it. Kent shows us the risks some journalists take everyday, in order to bring real news to us. We owe them more than just passively sitting in front of our T.V. sets accepting whatever the networks choose to feed us. It's nice to know that old cowboy movies aren't the only place where the guy wearing the white hat can still win the battle

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars self-serving but fascinating, March 18, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Boulder CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Risk and Redemption: Surviving the Network News Wars (Hardcover)

This was a very strange book to read. Here is an writer, an eyewitness to some of the most interesting and dangerous moments in recent history. Yet he seems to have had little time to reflect on what he has experienced, so pressured has he been to get the film in and on air, to say someting quick and marketable. There is no doubt about this man's courage, his credentials as a journalist, or NBC's incompetent attempts to destroy him.(It makes one never to want to watch anything on NBC or buy anything from its owner GE) But for a man who has been through so much I fear that much of what he has to say has not been digested. He appears still very much wounded by his own sucessful lawsuit and the betrayal of an organization that he risked his life for. Yet as much as I want to admire the man, there is something dishonest about this book. I do not dispute the facts, but the book presentation sounds more like a public relations effort to recusitate his career- or a recapitulation of the notes he gathered for the trial. In every chapter there is the constant effort to prove to the reader how brave he and his friends are, how stupid and deceitful are his enemies. Everything is black and white, almost nothing new or interesting or thoughtful in between. I think in the years to come we may read something far better from Kent. Kent an interesting new kind of man-a product of the news business. I would say that anyone in the news media or even thinking about it -or anyone who draws his primary information about the world from the networks -should definitely read this book for its strengths as well as its weaknesses.(One will never watch TV news again with the same trust.) But as an insightful discussion of current events or autobiography, be forwarned.