Staying Tuned: A Life in Journalism (Hardcover)

by Daniel Schorr (Author) "Write the easy part first," said my perceptive friend William Safire..." (more)
Key Phrases: news roundup, embassy reception, New York, White House, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Long a familiar face to American television-news viewers, and more recently a familiar voice to public-radio listeners, Daniel Schorr recounts his 60-plus-year career covering some of the most significant events of the last century.

Schorr knew that he wanted to be a journalist from a very young age, though his mother worried about her son entering a profession that required no advanced degree. ("Isn't it a little like being an actor?" she asked, presciently, given the shape of modern broadcast news.) Schorr's narrative begins before the Second World War, when, the son of Russian immigrants, he combed the streets of New York looking for news stories and eventually talking his way onto the staffs of newspapers and wire services. He had a gift for being in the right place at the right time, breaking news in the summer of 1941 that pointed to an impending war with Japan and reporting on the hostilities that followed the creation of the state of Israel, among many other events. That gift served him well as he rose through the ranks of foreign correspondents, eventually joining CBS and heading the network's bureaus in Bonn and Moscow, where he came to spend more time talking with Nikita Khrushchev than he would spend with the American presidents he was later charged with covering. Schorr had another gift: a particularly fine ability to irritate those who came under his scrutiny, from John Wayne to John Kennedy, from the KGB to the FBI. "It may be that I am just hard to get along with, but to me it always seemed that some principle was involved."

Irascibility and high principle alike mark this memoir. Readers who grew up listening to Schorr's reports on such matters as Watergate and the Berlin Wall, as well as students of journalism and history, will find it illuminating. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly
Pick a major news event of the post-WWII era and chances are NPR commentator Schorr covered it. He was present at the inceptions of NATO, the Republic of Indonesia and the Berlin Wall. He conducted the first-ever TV interview with Khrushchev, arranged for himself and violinist Isaac Stern to take one of the first tours of Anne Frank's garret, and was Ted Turner's first hire for his fledgling Cable News Network in 1980, a position Schorr accepted after his principles got him into trouble at CBS. The son of Eastern European immigrants, Schorr never intended to become a broadcaster; he wanted to write for the New York Times. But a hiring freeze on Jewish correspondents put the kibosh on that dream, and once he joined the fabled team of CBS-TV reporters headed up by Edward R. Murrow, he never extracted himself from broadcast media. In this engaging, fascinating and often funny memoir, he alternates between offering an up-close-and-personal look at the more memorable events of the 20th century and sharing intimate stories about everyone from Shirley MacLaine to Richard Nixon (who included Schorr on his famous "enemies" list). Uncompromising and occasionally antagonistic, Schorr, like any good old-school journalist, is objective, even about himself. Indeed, the best description of him comes from former CBS boss Richard Salant: "He was not universally loved. But he was very good." Whether his book will be universally loved remains to be seen. But it's definitely very good. 16-pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. (May 8)Forecast: Well-known to TV viewers and NPR audiences, Schorr should get major media attention when he tours N.Y. and D.C., and, engaging as this book is, with a first printing of 35,000, it may even flirt with the bestseller lists.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Atria (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671020870
• ISBN-13: 978-0671020873
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,321,594 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Americ's finest broadcast journalist, July 9, 2001

By	David Jefferson (San Ramon, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Before reading this book I already believed that Daniel Schorr was America's finest broadcast journalist. But my admiration has only increased. This book accomplishes what I had only hoped the memoirs of other famous broadcast journalists (e.g. Ted Koppel, Walter Cronkite, and David Brinkley) would.

Like those other journalists, Schorr has been very close to a remarkable number of the defining events of the last half century. But his writing seems harder-hitting, as much historical as journalistic, and he seems to be two levels deeper in understanding and perspective than they were in their books. I felt in the middle of the events with Schorr, not watching them at 30,000 feet. Perhaps it is the difference between the perspective of the man at the scene, compared to that of the anchorman. Schorr's immense knowledge of Nikita Khrushchev and (separately) of Richard Nixon are absolutely outstanding.

The book demands a lot from the reader. Not everything is told sequentially, and not all the background material is explained. Schorr seems to expect you to remember many of the events and issues yourself; his job is to add depth, perspective, and detail. Younger readers who don't remember the 50's, 60's, or 70's, will be challenged by the book. Those who do remember those decades, will be immensely impressed, educated, and enriched

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, May 17, 2001

By	J. Trelstad (Fargo, ND) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What could be worse than trying to find words adequate to describe the memoir of one of the finest journalists this country (and perhaps Europe as well) has known? Anyone who laments the ratings competition... among the various news media today will find this book inspiring and refreshing, and perhaps shed a layer or two of their cynicism in the process. Schorr's career routinely landed him in the midst of incredibly historical circumstances, sometimes without his realizing the enduring importance of the situation. This book is a rare historical journey for anyone interested in current events. For this 48 year old reader, it was better than any history course I've ever taken. We would have more hope for a fair, accurate and trusted media if every journalist - and would be journalist - read this book. Thank you Mr. Schorr!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Life in Journalism, December 28, 2001

By	Crack Reviewer (USA) - See all my reviews

I was most impressed by "Staying Tuned". This book is Daniel Schorr's auto-biography of his many decades in journalism. Few people have had the opportunity to be the eyewitness to history that Schorr has had. Schorr was present to cover Nikita Khruschev and the De-Stalinization movement in Russia. He was present to cover post-nazi Germany under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. He was able to cover aspects of the "Great Society" under Lyndon Johnson. Also, he was there during Watergate and was sufficiently critical of the Nixon Administration to make the White House "enemies list".

Schorr's ability to communicate directly with the personalities such as Khruschev, former Yugoslavian President Tito, and Chancellor Adenauer of West Germany was most impressive. Clearly these were the days before journalism became swollen with hordes of "news hungry" reporters. I doubt any correspondent today could get as much access to similar political and public figures.

While dealing with earth-shaking events and personalities, the book also touches on Schorr's day-to-day existence. Difficulties such as avoiding taxes in the Soviet Union, obtaining a refrigerator, and functioning in a communist country are interesting, as well as amusing. One also is touched by the descriptions of the people in foreign countries who worked for him.

Schorr viewed Johnson's "Great Society" programs as failing because the administration gave up on them, and reduced funding due to the demands of the Vietnam War. He rejects the conservative ideology that the programs failed because they were inherently flawed in some fashion. Its refreshing to hear another viewpoint besides the one that seems to be parroted constantly.

Its clear that Daniel Schorr is a person who by practicing his occupation as a journalist in a courageous and intelligent fashion, contributed much to American Democracy. The American people cannot make informed and sound decisions without good information from journalists. The First Amendment guarantee of "freedom of the press" would mean little without tough-minded journalists pursuing stories of national importance. God bless Daniel Schorr as he reaches his golden years of life. One only hopes there are other courageous men and women who will take his place.