Check It Out! - (Communications and Media Studies) by Art Athens (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Stories with no substance. Talking heads without a clue. "Team" coverage that still misses the big picture. Overheated hype. Cute chatter. Film at eleven. Is it any wonder more and more of us count less and less on the news?

"It used to be that a news story told you who, what, where, when, how, and why," Art Athens writes. "Now the story might tell you who, or it might tell you when, but there's a good chance that when it's over (which won't take long), you'll be the one saying What?"

Here's a legendary journalist's back to the basics guide to the craft of broadcast news. Combining insights from his own award-winning career with in-depth conversations with leading newspeople, Art Athens offers a primer on the best practices in reporting, writing, and delivering the news.

And he lets some of the best in the business talk frankly and passionately about what it takes to do the job right: Dan Rather, Charles Osgood, Mike Wallace, Brian Williams, Andy Rooney, Charles Kuralt, Linda Ellerbee, and Don Hewitt.

What kind of skills--and spirit--does it take to be a successful, serious broadcast journalist? How are the good stories conceived and written? And in today's cynical age of news as entertainment, what should reporters and editors do to restore confidence in the media? In this funny, sharp, honest book, anyone who cares about the news will find answers on every page.

Review Quotes

Art Athens always got it right on the radio and he gets it right here. Check this out if you want to learn the five Ws - and the how - of being a broadcast journalist from one of the best in the business.-----Lynn Sherr, ABC News

About the Author

Art Athens spent 40 years as a print and broadcast journalist, including 25 years at WCBS, New York City's all-news station. The winner of Pew and Columbia/Peabody awards for excellence, he died in 2000.