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Watchdogs of Democracy?: The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public Paperback – June 12, 2007

by Helen Thomas (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 34 ratings
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In the course of more than sixty years spent covering Washington politics, Helen Thomas has witnessed firsthand a raft of fundamental changes in the way news is gathered and reported. Today, she sees a growing -- and alarming -- reluctance among reporters to question government spokesmen and probe for the truth. The result has been a wholesale failure by journalists to fulfill what is arguably their most vital role in contemporary American life -- to be the watchdogs of democracy.

Here, the legendary journalist and bestselling author delivers a hard-hitting manifesto on the precipitous decline in the quality and ethics of political reportage -- and issues a clarion call for change. Thomas confronts some of the most significant issues of the day and provides readers with rich historical perspective on the roots of American journalism, the circumstances attending the rise and fall of its golden age, and the nature and consequences of its current shortcomings. The book is a powerful, eye-opening discourse on the state of political reportage -- as well as a welcome and inspiring demand for meaningful and lasting reform.
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  1. Print length
    217 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Scribner
  4. Publication date
    June 12, 2007
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.6 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0743267826
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0743267823
  8. See all details
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4.2 out of 5 stars
34 global ratings

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Customers find the book informative and educational. They appreciate the insight into the vital role of an active and diligent press. The book is suitable for readers interested in history, political science, and journalism.

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4 customers mention "Information quality"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative, educational, and fun. They say it provides a powerful insight into the vital role of an active and diligent press. Readers mention it's reading for all voters and students of history, political science, and journalism.

"Ms. Thomas is a great lady, a national treasure, and one of the last incorruptible members of the fourth estate...." Read more

"...This book offers a powerful insight into the vital role that an active and diligent press corps must play in keeping America properly informed about..." Read more

"This book holds a lot of good information. Since I am a political science major, this is definitely something to have in your possession." Read more

"...should be required reading for all voters, and students of history, political science and journalism...." Read more

3 customers mention "Journalistic quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the journalistic quality of the book. They praise Helen Thomas and Jackie Kennedy as trail-blazing journalists who made their careers in journalism.

"...a powerful insight into the vital role that an active and diligent press corps must play in keeping America properly informed about our domestic &..." Read more

"...However, I still think Helen Thomas was a great journalist." Read more

"...Both of these women are trail-blazing journalists who made their career in a profession that was made up mostly of men...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars The corruption and decline of the press
    Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    Ms. Thomas is a great lady, a national treasure, and one of the last incorruptible members of the fourth estate. In an exhaustive tour-de-force, she charts every aspect of the state of journalism, from plagiarism scandals, the repeal of the fairness doctrine, the major Supreme Court decisions, corporate media control, the criminal laxness on reporting the Iraq War to the current scripted infomercials of the Bush administration. Through her decades-long coverage of the White House, she details the war against the press by every president: but she reserves a special place for the sleazy practices of both Richard Nixon and George Bush. Her conclusion at every turn is that the current press is indeed failing America through cowardice, sloppiness, corporate bottom lines and pandering - they are forgetting that they occupy an essential place in our democracy, questioning those in power.
    I have had the personal pleasure of meeting and talking with Ms. Thomas in an informal gathering, and she, not failed directors of the CIA, deserves a Medal of Freedom for her long and great service to truth -- pretty unthinkable from the current administration.
    94 people found this helpful
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  • Edwin C. Pauzer
    4.0 out of 5 stars You tell'em, Helen!
    Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    Helen Thomas, the venerable grand dame of the White House Press embodies what it means to be a professional journalist. Page after page reveals her love of her profession and her disappointment in how it has evolved.

    Having been a journalist for more than 60 years and as a member of the White House press corps since John F. Kennedy, she is waiting and hoping for a new generation of journalists to achieve the stature of an Edward R. Morrow or a Walter Cronkite--reporters who seek to report the truth and refuse to be cowed by intimidation.

    In this short book, she provides numerous examples of press manipulation by the Bush administration and the acquiescence of a somnabulistic press corps that have become adminstration stenographers rather than investigators:

    * President Bush's desire to be known as a war president even before the terrorist attack on 9/11.

    * "No weapons. No ties to terrorists. No threats. No apologies. No explanations. No remorse. Under those circumstances, Americans were told they were fighting a war in Baghdad for liberty and democracy throughout the Middle East. Bush could shift the rationale in the blink of an eye with no apparent qualms."

    * The Downing Street Memo which revealed that we were fixing the intelligence and the facts around policy so we could invade Iraq.

    * Previously selected White House press with preplanned questions that the president knew of in advance of the actual press conference.

    * White House Press being marched into the press room in columns of twos like they were school children.

    * The Pentagon paid millions of dollars to plant positive stories of the American occupation in Iraqi newspapers.

    * The administration paying actors to pose as reporters in fake video news promoting its Medicare prescription drug plan.

    * Planting letters from veterans to their hometown newspapers until someone discovered the similarities in many of them.

    * The Bush administration giving press credentials to James Dale Guckert a.k.a. Jeff Gannon, an auto mechanic and male prostitute. Gannon always asked questions with a false premise or one that knocked democrats in the actual question.

    To these acts of lawbreaking and indiscretions, Ms. Thomas expresses displeasure with a press that found them unnewsworthy.

    This is an excellent book to remind us of what we should expect and even demand more from our press. It is an excellent expose how conglomerates with singular points of view are buying the communications media to filter the news we receive. It reveals how newspapers and TV networks cave in to right wing pressure to fire reporters for telling the truth, or getting a network to withhold a story of Ronald Reagan because it was partially unflattering.

    Helen's words are a siren song that illustrate how we are in danger of losing our most important freedom--our freedom of the press. We need bold leaders but an even bolder press. In the words of Edward R. Murrow whom Ms. Thomas quotes, "No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices."

    Our indifference and acquiescence makes accomplices of us all.
    106 people found this helpful
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  • Sam
    5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading
    Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I remember watching Ms Hunt over the years do here job in the White House News room. This book offers a powerful insight into the vital role that an active and diligent press corps must play in keeping America properly informed about our domestic & international affairs. It should be required reading in every high school English class.
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  • Dorothy J
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
    Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This book holds a lot of good information. Since I am a political science major, this is definitely something to have in your possession.
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  • Joseph N. Miller
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great lady who stayed to long on the public stage
    Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I purchased all the books by Helen Thomas and wanted to complete my collection. Although I enjoyed reading her opinion about the news media,I realized you can never relive the past.
    One must change to remain active in today's society. She wanted to stay in the past.
    However, I still think Helen Thomas was a great journalist.
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  • Douglas Herrschaft
    3.0 out of 5 stars A decent historical overview
    Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2006
    Thomas's book is a good overview of the evolution of the Washington press corps and its relationships with various presidents since the 50s. Anyone who wants to gain insight on the current press corps' lapdog relationship with the Bush administration would do well to read this book.

    And, contrary to what John R. Linnel would have you believe, the book is not a hysterical diatribe against the Bush administration. While Thomas is critical of Bush in places, she is an equal opportunity curmudgeon, lashing out mainly at what she sees as the dangerous abdication of the press of its central role as watchdog in a democratic society.

    The book drags in places, but it's nice to have the voice of long experience to help give shape to one's view of an important democratic institution.
    18 people found this helpful
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  • Ty T Squared
    5.0 out of 5 stars Too bad there are no more Helen Thomas' around (or Sarah ...
    Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Too bad there are no more Helen Thomas' around (or Sarah McClendon's or Sam Donaldson's Ann Devroy's or Ed Bradley's). This book is still applicable today. The media needs to become relevant and not be afraid to ask those tough questions that need to be asked for the country's sake. Helen Thomas really takes her profession to task in this one. And even in death, it's long overdue.
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  • Eric K. Jensen
    4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read
    Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2008
    Being as though this comes from Helen Thomas, it is as interesting as you'd think it might be. However, the editing is a little odd in that it reads like a bunch of random thoughts. Maybe it was a bunch of random thoughts. Who knows.

    I find myself wanting to know more of the story a lot of the time.

    I wouldn't skip this one if you think it sounds interesting, but don't get too excited about how much insight you'll get.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • P. Barbara
    5.0 out of 5 stars Watchdogs of Democracy?
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 22, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    The main fault is there should be 20 question marks after the title, instead of just one.
    As Helen (RIP) explains, the Press has deteriorated tremendously during her long stint as a journalist.
    The MSM are now owned by a handful of Corporations, and instead of hard-hitting exposures of government and Corporate wrongdoing, they provide the public with interminable rubbish about 'celebrities' and sanitised government-sponsored 'news'.
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