Harry Reasoner : a life in the news / Douglass K. Daniel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Daniel, Douglass K.

Series:

Focus on American history series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reasoner, Harry, 1923-1991.

Reasoner, Harry.

Journalists--United States--Biography.

Journalists.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 270 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2007.

Summary:

Harry Reasoner was one of the most trusted and well-liked journalists of the golden age of network television news. Whether anchoring the evening newscast on CBS in the 1960s or on ABC in the 1970s, providing in-depth reporting on 60 Minutes, or hosting numerous special programs covering civil rights struggles, the Vietnam War, and Watergate, Reasoner had "that almost mystical quality it seems to take for good television reporting, exuding this atmosphere of truth and believability," in the words of Walter Cronkite. Yet his reassuring manner and urbane, often witty, on-air persona masked a man who was far more complex and contradictory. Though gifted with the intelligence and drive to rise to the top of his profession, Reasoner was regarded by many colleagues as lazy and self-indulgent, a man who never achieved his full potential despite his many accomplishments.

Harry Reasoner: A Life in the News covers the entire sweep of this enigmatic journalist's life and career. Douglass K. Daniel opens with Reasoner's Depression-era Midwestern upbringing and follows him through his early work in newspapers and radio before he joined CBS in 1956. Focusing on Reasoner's thirty-five-year tenure in television news, Daniel presents fascinating, behind-the-scenes accounts of Reasoner's key role in founding the top-rated newsmagazine 60 Minutes. He also explores Reasoner's highly publicized move to ABC in 1970, where he anchored the nightly newscast, first with Howard K. Smith and later with Barbara Walters-a disastrous pairing from which Reasoner's career never fully recovered. Based on scores of interviews and unpublished letters, memos, and other primary sources, this first biography of the man once rated second only to Walter Cronkite in credibility illuminates on entire era in broadcast journalism, as well as many of the unique personalities, from Andy Rooney to Mike Wallace, who made that era distinctive.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Most Wonderful Place in the World 1

Chapter 2 A Comfortable Life Upended 20

Chapter 3 Secure at Home, Adrift at Work 37

Chapter 4 Taking a Chance at CBS News 59

Chapter 5 On the Air and Everywhere 82

Chapter 6 60 Minutes and a Bruised Ego 107

Chapter 7 At ABC, New Duties and Old Habits 127

Chapter 8 Trouble, Turmoil, and Barbara Walters 152

Chapter 9 A Rocky Return to CBS 177

Chapter 10 Behind the Camera, a Difficult Farewell 197.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [251]-259) and index.

ISBN:

9780292714779

0292714777

OCLC:

71223278

Online:

Publisher description