Reporting Live
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Overview
Lesley Stahl's job offer from CBS came with an ultimatum -- "if you can't start tomorrow, forget it." The year was 1972, and opportunities for women in network television were rare. With the same determination that would define her career, she promptly departed Boston, went to Washington, and began her ascent to the top of broadcast journalism. In a male-dominated world, Stahl established herself as a "scoopster" and a "door kicker," breaking some of the most important stories in Washington, including Watergate. She would cover the next three presidents, witnessing the disintegration of Jimmy Carter's presidency, the rise and fall and rise again of Ronald Reagan's, and the unpretentious, regular-guy quality of George Bush's.In telling her story, Stahl touches on themes that have defined the later part of this century: the changing role of the press in politics, television's coming of age, and the dilemma of the professional woman. With witty anecdotes, wise observations, and never a hair out of place, Stahl provides an insightful and entertaining look at her world and ours from behind the reporter's microphone.
Synopsis
In her more than 25 years at CBS News, Lesley Stahl, the woman TV Guide called "the toughest interviewer on television," has seen it all, and now she shares her experiences in the behind-the-scenes memoir Reporting Live. From her early days covering the Watergate scandal to the eight years she spent on "Face the Nation" and her current work on "60 Minutes," Stahl has confronted presidents, network moguls, crooked politicians, rock musicians, movie stars, and even competing journalists with the same tough-but-fair approach that has distinguished her career.
The New York Times Book Review - Robin Toner
Stahl has the anecdotes and her writing the texture you would expect from a correspondent who spent a decade on the White House....less an attempt to analyze the policies and politics of the period she covered than a you-are-there journal of what it was like to be there covering it.
Editorials
Philip Terzian
It takes a certain kind of character to rise to eminence in TV newssurmounting all manner of obstacles and prejudicebefore landing int the sacred precincts of "60 Minutes'.....Whatever it isLesley Stahl has it. —The American SpectatorStanley Cloud
Stahl emerges from Reporting Live as a tough, caring pro with a winning and self-deprecating sense of humor....Moving.— Columbia Journalism Review
Los Angeles Times
Skillfully written...compelling.Good Housekeeping
A graceful, honest memoir...Stahl's writing resonates.Robin Toner
Stahl has the anecdotes and her writing the texture you would expect from a correspondent who spent a decade on the White House....less an attempt to analyze the policies and politics of the period she covered than a you-are-there journal of what it was like to be there covering it.— The New York Times Book Review
Library Journal
Stahl, correspondent for "60 Minutes," tracks both her career and the course of network news over the last two decades.Los Angeles Times
Skillfully written...compelling.Charles Winecoff
...[A] vivid, edgy account....With near ruthless abandon, she always manages to put the news first.— Entertainment Weekly
Robin Toner
Stahl has the anecdotes and her writing the texture you would expect from a correspondent who spent a decade on the White House....less an attempt to analyze the policies and politics of the period she covered than a you-are-there journal of what it was like to be there covering it.— The New York Times Book Review
Kirkus Reviews
A breezy yet informative behind-the-microphone look at how the news is reported-and and why and how being a member of the Fourth Estate has become one of the most reviled professional categories in America today. Veteran CBS reporter Stahl entered TV journalism in an era when women were supposed to provide pleasant filler, but she soon made a name for herself when she was assigned to cover a "third-rate burglary" that turned into Watergate. And what a niche she carved: two decades covering the White House during the Carter, Reagan, and Bush Presidencies, eight years at the helm of "Face the Nation," and eight years-plus as a reporter for "60 Minutes." Stahl writes chattily and incisively of how the news is gathered, giving us insightful glimpses into some of this century's most important news stories: Watergate, the Iran hostage crisis, Iran-Contra.Still, the book is more than a chronicle of one woman's rise in journalism and her unreserved account of the trials of making it in a very male world. (Even so, Stahl—the mother is refreshingly honest about her professional drive and how she's managed to combine parenting with profession.) Rather, Reporting Live also takes an intriguing look at how journalism, especially TV journalism, has itself developed. The result is a fascinating chronicle reflecting Stahl's views on both society and herself. Deregulation, for instance, in her judgment begat more stations even as technology begat more cable—and, yes, even more stations. As a result, TV journalists started...relying on polls so we could give the public what they wanted." Exit hard-hitting, substantive news; enter tabloid news. News junkies will savor everysound-bite in this sassy memoir.