Media : Television

The host of NPR's Morning Edition chronicles the rise of radio and television news In this brisk and incisive account, Bob Edwards shows us how Edward R. Murrow helped establish broadcast journalism-and, in the process, reminds us how far most broadcast news has fallen from the reportorial standards set by Murrow and the people he hired at CBS. Sent to Europe in the late 1930s by CBS, Murrow pioneered the concept of radio reports by foreign correspondents, nightly roundups of European news, and, later, "you are there" reports from London during the blitz. After the war, Murrow launched See It Now, the first in-depth television news program-and helped make CBS the gold standard for television news. Edwards brings to life the great stories Murrow covered-the blitz, bombing raids over Berlin, the liberation of Buchenwald, red-baiting by Senator Joe McCarthy-as well as the ups and downs of his career at CBS. Complete with an afterword that analyzes the decline of broadcast news since the 1980s, this book will be required reading for anyone interested in twentieth-century history and the media. "It's amazing to me that Bob Edwards, who didn't know Murrow, knows him so well. . . I found in this book the Murrow I knew."-Daniel Schorr, Senior News Analyst, NPR "Get it, read it, and pass it on. Every aspiring broadcast journalist should have it."—Bill Moyers Bob Edwards (Arlington, VA) has been the host since 1979 of NPR's Morning Edition, the most popular program on public radio, with 13 million listeners each week. He and his program won the prestigious Peabody Award in 1999 for "two hours of daily in-depth news and entertainment expertly helmed by a man who embodies the essence of excellence in radio"; he also won the Edward R. Murrow Award in 1984. He is the author of Fridays with Red. more...

Price: $19.95

Doty takes us to the queer side of criticism, offering controversial views of the stars, the plots, and the directors of our best loved and most iconic films. more...

Price: $29.95

Who is The Zsa Zsa Man? What are the demands of The Sydney Darlow Dancing Troupe? What lurks Behind The Fridge? What was The Glidd Of Glood's true nature? Why can t we go to Heaven when we die? What was the true genesis of Monty Python's Parrot Sketch? Why is Morton P. Fergleberger terrified of titanium rods? Who is Morton P. Fergleberger anyway? The Peter Cook Appreciation Society has the answers. How Very Interesting contains interviews with those who worked with Cook during his long and varied career and who saw him as an inspiration: his colleagues, collaborators, co-writers, producers, directors, fans and friends, including John Fortune, Barry Fantoni, Eleanor Bron, the staff of Private Eye, Trevor Baylis, Robyn Hitchcock, Chris Morris, Will Self, Jerry Sadowitz, Malcolm McLaren, Elvis Costello, Nigel Planer, Mel Smith, John Cooper Clarke, Barry Cryer, Auberon Waugh, Clive Anderson, and more - including the great man himself. Alongside the interviews, revelations and slanging matches, How Very Interesting unearths rare pieces of Cookiana, cocks an ear at Private Eye's Famous Flexies and Derek & Clive, sits through The Hound of the Baskervilles and Cook's many screen outings, and otherwise digs, delves and disappears into the universe of Peter Cook, and all that surrounds it. more...

Price: $17.99

Good interviewing is the key to good reporting and good stories. It's a difficult skill to acquire and it can be stressful - but you can learn how to approach a total stranger and elicit information on a topic about which you know nothing. In this clearly-written guide, experienced journalists Gail Sedorkin and Judy McGregor show you step by step how to manage the interview process. They explain how to prepare, and what to do when you don't have time to prepare. They outline the difference between 'soft' and 'hard' interviews, and show how to make the most of any interview situation. more...

Price: $21.50

This brings together Ien Ang's recent writings on television audiences and, in response to recent criticisms of cultural studies, argues that it is possible to study audience pleasures and popular television in a way that is not naively populist. more...

Price: $39.95