Book Description
In 1996, veteran CBS News reporter and producer Bernie Goldberg committed the unpardonable sin of publicly mentioning the issue of liberal bias in the media. For that he became persona non grata at CBS. Goldberg tells how friends and colleagues turned on him, from junior CBS reporters all the way to Dan Rather. But much more than that, he exposes a bias so uniform and overwhelming that it permeates every news story we hear and read- and so entrenched and deep rooted that the networks themselves don't even recognize it.
Customer Reviews:
Enough with the "liberal media" scam.......2007-09-10
The right-wing establishment has milked this cow dry. [yawn] You want bias? Fox News and its minions should keep you busy for days.
An awesome book.......2007-08-22
A great book that verified much of what I had learned through my own dealings with the media. A real eye-opener if you want to see how things really work.
Goldberg's Golden Hour.......2007-08-19
"Bias" is Bernard Goldberg's best book. Once a CBS insider, Goldberg violated CBS' internal politics and chose to grind his axe in these pages. I'm glad he did. Goldberg chooses several key news stories from the 1990s and demonstrates how they were given a slanted portrayal by the television media. He never claims that anyone intentionally chose to distort the news. Rather, he claims that due to similar educational backgrounds and political affiliations most marquee-level TV reporters automatically view the world through a certain perspective which cannot help but influence their choice of words. This is the meaning of the word "bias" in the broadest sense, and this is what Goldberg addresses in his book.
As such, this is essential reading for anyone who cares about politics, journalism, or both. I've read it multiple times and find something new to enjoy in it each time. Back before the internet was in every home, this sort of bias went almost undetected and Goldberg deserves a lot of credit for writing this book and making a clear and unemotional case.
I don't know if it pays to dig deeper into Goldberg's canon, sadly. Despite his claims that he was in strong agreement with the liberal values of CBS, his post-"Bias" career has been staunchly in step with the equally biased Fox News and AM Talk Radio. As such, there's a sameness to his later writing (as well as the feeling that he is preaching toward the choir) that can't be found here. This doesn't diminish the power of this book at all; I mention it only as a caveat.
This book is a quick, worthwhile, and fun read. You'll also come back to it in the future, and it holds up very well to subsequent re-readings.
Biased Rant.......2007-07-23
Bernard Goldberg should have learned in childhood that when one points a finger, three fingers point back at oneself. From the very start of this rant, it is obvious that Goldberg's ego suffered from being in the shadow of other news anchors. The more he complains about others, the more one learns about Goldberg. He goes ad nauseum into recounting how he complained time after time about liberal bias, but the powers that be wouldn't listen to him. Perhaps that was due to the higher-ups' recognition of Goldberg's envious manipulation and whining. In reality, perhaps he was shunned in the end because of his own lack of professionalism.
There is very little of actual journalism presented by this so-called journalist. Somehow I am not surprised at all to find that Bernard Goldberg landed at Fox News. His style must fit right in. What is so laughable is that he wrote this entire book deploring bias and then went to work at the most blatantly biased news network.
He calls himself a liberal and from reading through the reviews here on Amazon, a number of readers bought Goldberg's assertion. What ever gave them the impression he was telling the truth about being a liberal? He gives himself away regularly as anything but a liberal. His social conscience is asserted, but not proven. I'm old enough to remember the emptying of the mental hospitals in California, the VietNam war and the increased numbers of homeless. If one actually goes back and looks at research on the economic and social effects of stripping first state and then federal funding for mental health in the 1970s-1980s, one will find that Reagan's policies started in California and moved across the states. There are very comprehensive discussions available on the internet of the complex economic and social pressures that have left countless mentally ill without care. Do some research, don't just accept Goldberg's opinions. Homelessness continued to be a problem discussed in the media under Clinton, although Goldberg denies that was the case.
Somehow, I don't think viewers are as stupid as Goldberg thinks they are. Most of us can pick up on slant. Goldberg never got to be the star he thought he deserved at CBS, so maybe the viewers will love him on Fox News, maybe not. At least he's free to be as biased as he wants to be now.
It Had To Be Done!.......2007-07-20
Five stars to Bernard Goldberg for blowing the whistle on the Media for the monopolistic power group that it is and for revealing what it is. His story stems from the article that he wrote in the Wall Street Journal about bias in the news and reactions that came from it.
I am a former journalist and the son of a network executive and what Goldberg reveals is exactly the atmosphere and thinking in the Media culture, even within little papers in the "conservative" Midwest.
His comments about what happened at CBS are telling and his sections that give evidence about stories and comments that have been made in the press about race, feminist power and aids are important. He confirms it from within. Also telling are the anti-Christian and anti-conservative hate comments that are frequently made in the industry with no repercussions. Believe me the media culture are one of the most conformist in the world and they will destroy you if you counter their orthodoxy and social prejudices.
Goldberg reveals much of his worldview location as a liberal in which the meaning of the world liberal has changed.
Peoples lives have been destroyed by this power culture!
It must change and will change.
This is one of the most important whistle blower books of our time.
Book Description
Broadcast News Writing Handbook will make students and professionals better writers and better broadcast journalists. With 50 years of combined broadcast journalism experience, the authors discuss how to write, how to craft language, and how to be effective story tellers. Some of the topics covered: Deadly Copy Sins and How to Avoid Them, Interviewing: Getting the Facts and the Feelings, Producing TV News, and Writing Sports Copy.
Customer Reviews:
great text.......2002-02-12
This handbook is a wonderful reference for broadcast writing and offers good general tips as well. The authors bring personal experiences to the book, and though I read this for a college journalism course, it was an enjoyable read and I intend to keep it on hand as I begin my uphill climb in the TV news world.
Average customer rating:
- Interested in aspiring to the next level of television reporting?
- Wayne's the real deal!
- It Takes More Than Good Looks To Succeed at TV News Reporting
- Inspiring, Instructional, Entertaining, and Very Realistic
- Brilliant.
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It Takes More than Good Looks to Succeed at TV News Reporting
Wayne Freedman
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ASIN: 1566251885 |
Book Description
Electronic Media has called Wayne Freedman probably the premier local TV news feature reporter in the country - and he's put those celebrated feature techniques to use in writing everyday news, as well. he's won 41 Emmy Awards, 11 of them for newswriting. And while no book can convey all the lessons he's learned through his years of experience, It Takes More Than Good Looks will give working and aspiring journalists a good sense of how he's found such success - and how they, too, can survive and thrive in the maddening, exhilarating world of television news.
Customer Reviews:
Interested in aspiring to the next level of television reporting? .......2007-09-28
Don't read this book just once. Read it twice, and then maybe even once more. Make sure the principles and teachings of Mr. Freedman are so ingrained in your mind, you apply them in the field, and during the writing process, with ease, despite any pressures or deadlines. Why? Because it takes more than good looks to succeed at television news reporting.
Wayne's the real deal!.......2007-06-06
Wayne Freedman is a rare gift in television news reporting, a polished gem of a reporter with an amazing eye and ear and professional aesthetic. He's a wonderul storyeller with what may be the largest collection of Emmy awards for television reporting on the planet...deservedly so, he's that good at what he does, they should just mail them to him every year.
I'm a former television producer and news director and I've always greatly admired Wayne's work, and his ability to sweep the Emmy awards every time. He's consistently brilliant and can turn the most mundane topic into a memorable visual story. His book is required reading for my television journalism students and should be read and re-read by every aspiring or novice television journalist, along with many veterans. This book makes teaching 'basic training' to up-and-coming video journalists MUCH easier. Not only is this book useful and a peek into a bright creative mind, it's just a good read...entertaining and hard to put down, with lots of great stories and insight! It's a keeper.
It Takes More Than Good Looks To Succeed at TV News Reporting.......2006-11-04
I bought this book for my sister. She completed her education in the journalism field. When she got the book as a gift, she immediately realized it is one of the best books she has ever come across related to her field. She could not put it down and now uses it as her main reference book.
Inspiring, Instructional, Entertaining, and Very Realistic.......2005-10-02
If you're an aspiring television news reporter, or working as one and hoping to move into a major market, read this book. The meat of it is inside the anecdotes.
Freedman describes the process of finding stories, large and small. He writes in detail about interviewing, story structure, and all the finer points of narrative writing. The bookk is packed with helpful hints for performance issues such as stand-ups, live shots, and vocal styles. "If you don't like the way you sound, look at the words you choose," he writes.
The book is idealistic, but competely truthful about succeeding and surviving in an imperfect business. For example, "It's fairly easy to please the boss who hires you. The test is to satisfy that new boss who replaces the old one."
Here's another. "Sometimes we forget our employers pay us, not for doing the perfect story, but for hiding flaws and doing the best story possible within a set of restraints."
That's the real stuff.
I have 15 years experience as a reporter and also teach broadcast journalism. This book is on my syllabus because it does NOT read like a textbook. Its cast of characters includes Bill Clinton, The Pope, Cal Ripken, Jr.---and dozens of regular, fascinating people. The first chapter, in which he outwits the United States Golf Association to expose their cover-up of a broken US Open trophy, is a timeless lesson about how to hustle under daily deadline pressure.
Brilliant........2003-12-27
Here's a "text book" that reads with the thunder of a good page-turner. You'll laugh, you'll cry... and you'll learn. Wayne Freedman is a brilliant visual reporter who's managed to translate his craft -- and his love of a good story -- into print. Best of all, if local news reporters follow his instructions, a lot of us will start watching TV news again!
Customer Reviews:
Bad News, Bad, Bad News!.......2006-08-01
Tom Fenton has a bone to pick.
As a veteran foreign correspondent for CBS News, he watched as his industry gave up investigative antagonistic independent journalism for "puff pieces," Barbara Walters/Geraldo Rivera-style entertainment, and rebroadcasting corporate and/or government packaged reports masquerading as "news." He's completely right that for at least 20 years the evening news has been a sham.
Economics is part of it, as Fenton describes how a couple tenths of a percentage point in the ratings means millions in advertising revenue. By pandering to the lowest common denominator, the major networks have guaranteed that the LCD is the only demographic served.
Also part of it, as Fenton takes great pains to point out, is the coziness of news bureaus with the current administration, which freezes out journalists who do not toe the party line. When lying to the public has become such an art, exposing the man behind the curtain is a sure trip to the Nowhere Idaho beat, or an IRS audit, or both.
Fenton has stern words for the current Bush Administration, as well as the Clinton and Bush Sr. Administrations before it. He seems rather soft on the Reagan Administration, even though this was when the run-up to Wall Street tyranny began.
The first third of the book is a little annoying, as Fenton takes every opportunity to place himself on a short list consisting of "Cronkite, Brokaw, Rather & Fenton." Frankly, I don't think he belongs on that list.
Nevertheless, having established his credentials the second third of the book details the failings of the TV news industry, how foreign bureaus were trimmed or eliminated completely after the fall of the USSR, and how American news turned inward and downward -- to our great detriment. In large part the developments in the world-at-large went unreported for two decades so the events of 1998-2001 caught many of us by surprise.
The last third of the book explains why this situation is so dangerous. In a nutshell, with nobody trusted & respected to report world events accurately, the Administration is free to contradict facts bold-facedly and the public either buys the lies or is willing to entertain the notion. In a state where the "Fourth Estate" does not function, the truth is a casualty and becomes open to interpretation -- or spin -- or outright political manipulation. You can't have Democracy without an informed populace.
Tom is right, this is unacceptable.
His book is unusually forthright, startlingly direct, and surprisingly it names names. That it came to print at all is a glimmer of hope that a free press still has a chance to resurrect itself, and the tide may yet be turned.
We can only hope.
Fairly weak and assuming........2006-07-11
If you buy the role Fenton proposes for the media, then perhaps you might like this book more. But since he simply posits that the media is there to protect the country, promote unity, and a whole list of other (about 10 total) roles of the media, and then fails to explain why this is the media's role.....I sit there questioning this expansive role of news.
I see the newsmedia as a source of information. They are to provide the people with the who/what/where/how and why of what is going on in the world at large and locally. They are NOT to be ideology machines, whether good or bad ideologies.
Fenton observes how foreign news has drastically declined since the Cold War and how disastrous this has been. Here, describing the ins and outs of his field he excels, and does not spare any administration or political position. Yet he fails to notice that the reason why it was so much easier to report news in the Cold War era, and why his goals of unifying the country blah blah were so much more attainable is because we had an obvious enemy in front of us. In today's society, what foreign threat do we focus upon? Terrorism, the middle east, n. korea, chinese economic expansion, resurgent russian and japanese nationalism? Its unfortunate and a very valid point that the newsmedia seems to focus on NONE of these, at least with their own correspondents abroad. But Fenton's attacks often draw upon the sympathies of a post-911 world. Of course the news, like the government should have paid more attention to Bin Laden and company. We now that NOW. But hindsight is 20/20.
all the news they didn't see fit to print.......2006-06-22
Fenton cites many instances of important events brewing that were never reported, so that when the situation exploded, it seemed to come out of nowhere. An early one was the impending fall of the Shah of Iran, a situation that Fenton personally reported but which was dropped from the broadcasts as not sufficiently interesting. The most spectacular was the news of 9/11 which the New York Times had two days in advance. It chose to put the news on its website but not print it in the newspaper that prints "all the news that's fit to print." (p. 6) Fenton's reporting of this long list of unreported news is the major reason for reading this book. "Had there been a drumbeat of segments on network news showing the steadily rising Islamist threat abroad, we might be living in a different world now." (p. 5)
Fenton's message is that entertainment trumps hard news every time. The causes of this include "underfunding, arrogant insularity, contempt for the view's attention span, loss of mission, corporate greed." (p. 191) News media are now owned by corporations that own many other businesses. Profit, or the bottom line, is their mission, not informing the public. This has led them to close foreign news bureaus and to take their "news" from local feeders. At the same time, salaries for anchors and other stars of the news media have risen from $36,000 for each in the mid-1960s to 12 or 15 million apiece today.
"Anyone accustomed to watching CNN abroad, or the BBC in England, cannot believe what those channels offer in the U.S. market." (p. 223) "They manifestly assume that American tastes simply cannot be raised." Fenton admits that this could be true. "Perhaps Americans, particularly younger Americans, have become too fluff-happy, too incapable of concerted attention." (p. 233) (Virtually every book and article on the American education system confirms this.)
Bias or "spin" also is discussed, and Fenton says that it is getting worse. Much of it is corporate in origin, advertisers, etc. However, "No one ever mentions the influence of ethnic lobbies or affiliations on American media." (p. 99) "Yet neither will you see much on network news about the influence of Saudi money in Washington" (p. 103)
Fenton mentions blogs and ezines but contends that they are mainly pushing a point of view rather than reporting hard facts.
As one solution, Fenton recommends the formation of a news pressure group, perhaps composed of retired newsmen and anchors. The group's first job should be to "out" news executives who turn down important news stories. The group "should run a weekly register of egregious news shortfalls." (p. 236) It should also feature "comparative lists of how the media in other countries reported stories differently from ours, or showed us up in reporting what we didn't."
Perhaps we could add that a good place to get the news you're not getting is to read the many nonfiction books available here on Amazon. One of the most important recent books is While America Sleeps: How Islam, Immigration and Indoctrination are Destroying America from Within.
Bad News.......2006-01-06
Anyone who tries to follow news in the current atmosphere of world events knows that journalism, TV journalism in particular, is in a sad state. Retiring foreign correspondent Tom Fenton is canny to jump on the issue right now, when it's fresh in a lot of minds. He offers a lot of insights into what's wrong now. But in the end he lacks a clear vision of how the industry used to be and how it got to be where it is now.
Fenton points out that the major American TV networks have exactly one foreign bureau these days, in London. At home, "news" often consists of repackaging press releases from the government or Big Business, and abroad, news is regularly purchased wholesale from the BBC and other sources, international bureaus have withered to a few stringers, and many networks (Fox News in particular) have fallen prey to creating "spectaculars" with celebrity newsmen like Geraldo Rivera.
The author is correct to point out that this represents a major decline from the heyday of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite. News is on the skids. But as early as page twenty-seven, he reveals why things used to be better back in the Golden Age of newsgathering: the Cold War. Fear of the Soviets justified massive outlays that can't exist in the absence of a monolithic enemy. Any Noam Chomsky acolyte would point out that this means the news was NEVER really about facts, but rather about nationalist propaganda.
And Fenton is contradictory about how things stand today. For instance, he suggests that many news veterans are still stuck in a Vietnam-era liberal mindset and that's why they're eager to let slide on hard news gathering, tossing softballs to world leaders like President Bush and Vladimir Putin. Let me repeat that for you: he thinks that it is old-line leftism that is causing the news to give a free pass to right-wing nationalists like Bush and Putin. Need I explain why this is a ridiculous notion?
Still, there are a lot of ways Fenton is correct. Because newsgathering is toothless today, we have no context to understand forces like Islamist terror and Russian neocolonialism. Frivolous attitudes toward Chinese industrial expansionism and Venezuelan saber-rattling leave the average American unequipped to prepare for what may be our next big national struggle. And our highly overpaid news anchors have a moral responsibility to push their correspondents and stringers for a higher standard of reportage.
Even the solutions Fenton suggests are valid. An hour-long prime-time news show every night would be a good idea, and the success of shows like Dateline and 60 Minutes proves that people would watch them. An FCC willing to enforce the networks' responsibility to the public good would bring news in line with what it should be, and what we certainly need, to grasp our place in the world.
For all this good, Fenton's appeal to false nostalgia and his oddly contradictory view of how things are right now undermines how we see and understand his arguments. (And all this is not helped by odd typographical quirks that suggest the publisher was in a real hurry to get the book out and move on. I think we should expect higher quality from a HarperCollins imprint.)
Fenton is canny to spot a real need and throw his weight behind solutions. And with a little time and consideration, I suspect this book could have been a major contribution to real improvements in the state of affairs. But as it is it's a near miss, a selectively useful and alternately odd book that clouds the issues as much as it clarifies them. If you want to participate in the push for a more responsible press, this book is not the one for you.
a rant fell short to become a poignant criticism but simply joined gossips (which it supposedly was meant to criticise).......2005-12-02
I remember that I thought, at times, that American news shows would do better if they watched BBC or listened to NPR. I simply couldn't find what I wanted to know (i have to confess I skipped a good chunck; i couldn't take it) such as an answer to "Why all the major broadcasting stations chose to use certain words in reporpting the incidents in middle east, war on terror, war o/[i]n iraq, etc? (I still don't know when it actually became a war, in terms of the offical U.S. forein policy). The U.S. disregarding the U.N.'s inspection/judgement was enough at least for some of us to doubt any yet-coming-out proof of existence of WMD's. It is a piece of news, indeed informative one, if we hear a simple truth like it's too risky for reporters to go into certain regions and don't really know what's going on there or the U.S. goverment didn't allow reporters to go to certain areas, etc. Again, some of us figured anyway because we never heard iraqis talk on TV--even now we do rarely on radio (to tell you the truth i haven't had a TV for a long time). I believe that the american media didn't fail to inform the public what they knew, but they failed to inform that they didn't/couldn't know. Chomsky, though i often find myself disagree with him, is better---by far.
Book Description
A book you can use from your broadcasting class through your beginning years in the television newsroom!
This book uses an integrated approach to teaching the fundamental skills of writing, reporting, shooting, and editing. This approach will enable you to learn the basics as interrelated processes that must be integrated to create an effective newscast. The book's comprehensive coverage allows readers to make important connections between writing, reporting, shooting, and editing. You will learn to think like a writer or editor when you are shooting or think like a videographer or editor when you are writing. You will learn about TV reporting as it is in the real world, where one professional frequently has to do it all.
In addition to the basics, this book helps readers develop more sophisticated skills, such as writing to the video and adapting the editing pace to the style of the story. The book also covers other essentials of broadcast news reporting, including developing sources, successful interviewing, using public records, and perfecting voice and performance.
Keller and Hawkins understand real-world newsroom pressures. Their dedication to high professional and ethical standards permeates the book. This handbook provides readers with a foundation for learning TV reporting by doing and will teach them how to integrate all the skills required for producing television news.
Customer Reviews:
VERY HELPFUL!.......2002-01-09
This book is perfect for students in Mass Communications as well as reporters on the beat. In the classroom or in the newsroom it is a must have for all hard core broadcasting people who are dedicated to the industry.
Book Description
For the first time ever, a monster collection of 26 new original Kolchak short fiction stories by noted authors from comics, horror fiction, and film! With the advent of the new Kolchak ABC TV show, Moonstone proudly announces new contemporary prose adventures of the original Kolchak, TV's first and foremost paranormal investigator! Plus all kinds of other cool stuff, like tales from Kolchak's untold past, monster huntings, noir thrillers, and even horror stories of more cerebral type!
Customer Reviews:
Don't talk about this...to anyone.......2006-08-25
Chapter 1.
This is the review of one of the only Kolchak books available. You may have heard about it, probably on some web site or the back page of a comic book. However, what exists in this book between pages 1 and 329 is so diverse that the facts are in need of clarification. This will be the last time I'll review this bizarre book. So when you've finished, judge for yourself its worth and try to tell yourself, wherever you might be, would I want to read it here?
January 11, 1972
A young boy, age 8, tired, cranky, and just annoying enough to convince his parents to let him watch a minor made for TV movie called "The Night Stalker." ABC, that night, the boy was on route to his doom.
That boy was me, and even two days later I was still enthralled by one Carl Kolchak and his heroic battle with Janos Skorzeny. Already a fan of horror films (it was a time when Famous Monsters magazine was flying high), I had found a character so compelling, so fascinating, that it resounds in my mind even today. Little did I know then that I had watched a TV movie that went on to become the most watched made for TV movie of all time. As the years went by I equally loved the second movie (even though it wasn't as good) and the TV series. I even recorded the late night CBS showings on cassette tape and listened to them repeatedly. By high school I could recite the opening three scenes of the movie by heart. My brain was doomed to devote a considerable number of grey matter to housing the antics of Mr. Kolchak forever.
August, 2006
While determining what I could add to my Amazon order of an inner tube for my daughters bike in order to get free shipping, I ran across "Kolchak: The Night Stalker Chronicles." I had seen this before, of course (while surfing around the Amazon virtual store), but I was never sure if it was a group of actual stories or just a big comic book (graphic novel). I'm not into comic books so I always deferred on the side of caution. On this occasion it was just the right price to put me at the needed amount for free shipping.
Several days later the package arrived. First stop, the garage to install my daughters new inner tube for her bike. She blew the new tube out in half an hour. Next stop, a sit down to peruse this new book. To my pleasant surprise, it was not a comic book but 300 plus pages of words!
August, Again
I finished the first story and was reminded of a line from Mr. Kolchak himself that seemed to apply to the author of this story; "I got in early and banged out my story before all the other idiots arrived..." After reading this first short story I almost threw the book away. It had little to do with the character of Carl Kolchak and was written in 3rd person of all things! How could anyone write Kolchak in third person? But, I persisted...
Something of a pattern was beginning to form...the stories got better and were much more like Kolchak. Richard Valley's story is the best of the lot but they almost all suffer from a fatal blow; they are short. When the cover says 26 short stories it wasn't kidding. These stories are very short and end up being a let down. The typical Kolchak series episode went something like: introduction, research, fight cops, kill monster. These stories are mostly: introduction, kill monster. I suppose in order to cram as many stories as possible into the book they decided to cut out a major part of each work (much like a Vincenzo editing session). Either that or the authors spent as little time as possible writing their copy.
Item:
Interview with a Vampire has Kolchak meeting Barnabas Collins. The "intro" drolls on for a couple of pages, and then the two meet, talk, and Kolchak leaves. That is the whole story. There isn't even that much conversation that we read about. A few lines and then the author tells us they talked until 2am.
Item:
In almost all the stories Kolchak is portrayed as a celebrity for writing about all those monsters. Fact, In the movies his stories were never published as written. Fact, In most of the episodes he ends by saying something to the effect that the story would never be published. In these stories though they have so there are several where someone comes to Kolchak because of his reputation.
Item:
Taking a cue, I suppose, from the movies Kolchak is a heavy drinker in these stories. Fact, in the series Kolchak, Carl tells a bartender he never drinks while on duty. So, this is a personal choice that I would have rather seen Kolchak drink less in these stories.
So there you have it. All the stories have been bound into a book bought by guess who? I haven't had a decent nights sleep since reading these stories but that may be cause to medical problems rather than anything in the stories. I must warn you, in order to verify these facts you'll have to purchase the book. So, in the quiet of your home and the safety of your bed, just try to tell yourself would I want this book here?
Third continuity/B-Level writing.......2006-08-04
This book represents a third continuity of Kolchak. First is the TV movies-TV series, and then you have the short-lived NuKolchak (2005). This seems to be an unhappy compromise between the two: the 1970's Kolchak is popped down into the 21 Century. The problem is that part of Kolchak-1970 was that he was thirty years behind the times. Putting him and his seersucker and porkpie hat into the '00s decade with digital cameras, Internet and email, makes him sixty years behind the times. This is to jarring, too weird.
The books strength is that it keeps the legend alive for new readers, and serves a dual purpose of converting the uninitiated, and affirming the converted. The down side is that the stories are mediocre. Most of the authors wrote comic strips, so what we are reading is usually a mid- or par-level episode of the series. They are definitely not "glorified fan fiction," but they do have a "pulp mill" feel to them; they are good Saturday afternoon reading, but the stories (except "The Why Of The Matter") never go much beyond that.
Another drawback has to do with the premise itself. Kolchak was a "Monster of the Week" affair with stand-alone stories, as opposed to story-arcs and cohesive and coordinated villains. Consequently the stories are meaninglessly weird. Contrast this with "The Divine Comedy" or "Paradise Lost" where the devil has an intelligently organized opposition, with a command structure, jockeying lieutenants, and a cohesive strategy. Kolchack's boogeymen are just mindless boogeyman.
In this regard, Buffy, X-Files, and NuKolchak (ie X-Files: Los Angeles) had a marked advantage. Of course "The Twilight Zone" was an anthology, but the cohesive principle was Serling's philosophy. Kolchak lacks both.
The last problem is over-saturation. After two-seasons-too-many of the X-files, plus seven of "Buffy" and five of "Angel," plus countless revivals of "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits," this genre needs a rest for about a decade. After that, it needs another decade to rethink itself in light of the post-Cold War, post-9/11 world. After all, no eerie TV program can compare to what we see day in/day out on the news.
So the stories themselves:
My favorite story is "The Why Of The Matter," partly because it is optimistic, and it also breaks the stereotype of the run-amok boogeyman.
"Man or Monster", "Genus Loci", and "The Shadow That Shapes The Light" are close to the TV series. In fact the last one, "TSTSTL", I think sets the pattern for what a good Kolchak short storey should be. It includes italicized narrations that mirror the voiceovers that are mock-"Dragnet" and half Sam Spade. Remember that Kolchak is not a reporter, but a detective at heart--and Darren McGavin did play Mike Hammer.
I think "The Abominable Ice Man" is the most transferable into a movie, or a two part series. It needs tweaking to push it over the top, but the essential elements are all there.
"The Shrug of Atlas" left me wondering two things: first, is this Jesus a time traveler? And second, if it is Jesus, why the connection to atheist Ayn Rand? Like I said, there is no cohesion, and therefore not broad application to a reader's life--unlike "The Why of the Matter.". So the art has let us down.
Fans have a dilemma: if we don't buy this book, then Moonstone has no incentive to publish more. However, if we do buy the book, then Moonstone may be tempted to produce more of the same, at the same level of quality. I think that wisdom would dictate that we buy the book: it's not horrid, but they are B-level stories.
stories about one of my favorite characters.......2006-07-05
I enjoyed them all. I would really like to see more of the same, possibly even novels based on the original character, not the insipid updated version.
TERRIFIC ANTHOLOGY.......2006-03-25
What a great collection of Kolchak stories, but a group of talented writers. Most deliver hands, making each story seem like episodes from the old series. The less said about the new one, the better.
I strong recommend this anthology to anyone who enjoys good, macabre tales of the supernatural.
Kolchak Book.......2006-03-10
I like this new book of short stories of the continued adventures of Kolchak. The stories are great. They are almost better than the TV series. I also like the number of stories included 26 I believe.
Average customer rating:
- I've recommended this book to all my clients
- Elements of Style for the Electronic Generation
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Make it Memorable
Bob Dotson
Manufacturer: Bonus Books
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Writing Broadcast News, Rev. Ed.
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Associated Press Broadcast News Handbook
ASIN: 1566251583 |
Book Description
Bob Dotson is an Emmy award-winning correspondent for NBC News with more than thirty years of experience in the field of broadcast journalism. He is Special Correspondent for the NBC Today show. In this one-of-a-kind book, he shares tips and lessons he has learned that can help make your stories sharp, even under the tightest deadlines.
Customer Reviews:
I've recommended this book to all my clients.......2001-06-03
I'm a Radio consultant, specializing in News/Talk stations. Though Bob's book approaches the process from a TV perspective, his advice WILL help Radio news people write crisper, more-interesting copy.
Elements of Style for the Electronic Generation.......2000-10-19
Bob Dotson is one of the best writers in television today because he knows the language of video as well as production. What's more, he is a wonderful teacher. "Make it Memorable" is a must for anyone who is serious about video storytelling.
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Broadcast News Writing, Reporting, and Producing, Fourth Edition
Ted White
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ASIN: 024080659X |
Book Description
Broadcast News Writing, Reporting, and Producing, Fourth Edition examines the skills, techniques, and challenges of writing and reporting for broadcast journalism. Along with complete coverage of the fundamentals, the text presents up-to-date examples and issues through actual scripts and interviews with the people who bring us the news.
The book emphasizes real-life situations, and examines the problems that reporters, writers, assignment editors, and producers face every day. Each chapter contains exercises for writing, review, and discussion so that students can learn and apply what they've read.
This new edition contains material on embedded journalists, their preparation (journalist boot camp), including the late CNN reporter David Bloom, and their impact on the news. It includes new examples of tabloid journalism and expanded information on the state of terrorism and crime reporting today.
Ted White has been a broadcast journalist since starting his career as a copy boy for The Voice of America while in college as a journalism student. He worked for CBS, ABC, and CNN as well as other major radio and TV stations in NYC where he was a writer, reporter, editor, and producer before becoming a college professor at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
*New information on embedded journalism
*Expanded information on crime reporting
*New examples of tabloid journalism
Customer Reviews:
Required reading for my new staff at our new in-house studio.......1998-08-06
This book focuses on the most important part of making television and video - the story. It's an incredible how-to book with solid techniques and tricks-of-the-trade that are described by working professionals. As the senior producer of the second studio I've built for a Fortune 100 corporation, I'm making it required reading for my in-house staff. Our programs will be created this way or we will fail.
Books:
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- Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2007 (Birnbaum's Walt Disney World)
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- Bond on Set: Filming Casino Royale
- Bound and Gagged: Pornography and the Politics of Fantasy in America
- Classic Christianity: Life's Too Short to Miss the Real Thing
- Cleopatra's Wedding Present: Travels through Syria (Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiographies)
- Confessions of a Maddog: A Romp Through the High-Flying Texas Music and Literary Era of the Fifties to the Seventies
- Created Equal, Brief Edition, Single Volume Edition
- Cultural Moves: African Americans and the Politics of Representation (American Crossroads)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- Intervention Strategies to Follow Informal Reading Inventory Assessment: So What Do I Do Now
- BOB DYLAN: THE ESSENTIAL INTERVIEWS
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- History: Fiction or Science
- Greek Islands
- Fundamentals of Accounting: Advanced Course
- Credit Risk Pricing Models: Theory and Practice
- Flash and Filigree
100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (And Al Franken Is #37)
Arrogance: Rescuing America from the Media Elite
WHAT LIBERAL MEDIA? THE TRUTH ABOUT BIAS AND THE NEWS.
The New Media Monopoly
Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right
