Behind the Front Page: A Candid Look at How the News Is Made

by David S. Broder

Overview

From Simon & Schuster, Behind the Front Page is David S. Broder's candid look at how the news is made.

The author, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David S. Broder, looks at how the press handled various political stories of the seventies, and discusses the ethical issues faced by journalists—an exploration just as relevant now as it was then.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780743205504
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	03/01/2000
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David S. Broder is the National Political Correspondent and an associate editor of the Washington Post. He was born in 1929 in Illinois and studied at the University of Chicago. He began his newspaper career on the Blooming Daily Pentagraph and began working in Washington in 1955 for Congressional Quarterly. Broder and his wife, Ann, have four sons and live in Arlington, Virginia.

Table of Contents

	Introduction: Clique Journalism	11
Part 1	Missing the Story
Chapter 1	Taken Out of Context	23
Chapter 2	Misjudged Characters	50
Chapter 3	Plots That Failed	94
Part 2	Covering the Beats
	A Bit of Background	133
Chapter 4	From--and by--the White House	148
Chapter 5	Reagan's Way--and a Better Way	176
Chapter 6	The View from Capitol Hill	208
Chapter 7	Campaigns: Horse-race Journalism	238
Chapter 8	Campaigns: Who's in Charge Here?	270
Part 3	Keeping the Trust
Chapter 9	Bias--and Other Sins	305
Chapter 10	A Journalist's Values	341
	Acknowledgments	369
	Suggested Reading	371
	Index	375

Editorial Reviews

Broder, longtime political correspondent for the Washington Post, takes a gentlemanly look at contemporary journalism and comes up with a mild surprise or two. He is impressed, for example, by the way our neighbors to the north handle media coverage of national campaigns and proposes that ``catching up with the Canadians'' wouldn't be a bad way for our own media to begin improving itself. Unfortunately, he isn't altogether clear on what needs improving. (He admits that he doesn't take seriously the charge of media bias, for one thing.) The book is, for the most part, a sprawling discussion of the way presidential campaigns are covered, the relationship between journalists and public officials in general and , in particular, the relationship between the White House press corps and what he calls ``the White House propaganda machine.'' Major ad/promo; author tour. (April)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

An eminent political columnist for the Washington Post, known for his insightful commentary, maintains that explanatory tone in considering news coverage of presidential aspirants and White House incumbents. Broder asks why the public is confused about political news and commentators' views. The truth that each reporter feels he or she presents may, in truth, be his or her own truth. Columnists and reporters, Broder says, need to hear from readers and viewers to understand how their bias or their intentionally bias-free writing is perceived. This book should assist readers in seeing how reporters shape what they write, and why. For general and specialized media/politics collections. Abraham Z. Bass, Journalism Dept., Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb

Library Journal