A Reporter's Life

Last updated
A Reporter's Life
Author Walter Cronkite
LanguageEnglish
Genre Memoir
Published1997
Publisher Ballantine Books
Publication placeUnited States
Pages384

A Reporter's Life by Walter Cronkite was published by Ballantine Books on October 28, 1997. The 384-page memoir chronicles Cronkite's decades of reporting, focusing on his experiences with D-Day, the Civil Rights Movement, the John Kennedy assassination, NASA's first crewed Moon landing and Moon walk, freedom movements in South Africa and much more. It includes personal accounts of his interactions with presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Richard Nixon. [1]

Contents

Media coverage of the book

As the New York Times book review said, "It's the story of a modest man who succeeded extravagantly by remaining mostly himself -- succeeded in a demanding new medium, itself part of an exploding technology that made the world more complex by enabling peoples to know more about one another. And not unlike journalism itself, his memoir is a short course on the flow of events in the second half of this century -- events the world knows more about because of Walter Cronkite's work, and some of which might not have happened without it." [2]

Publishers Weekly said that "Written with wry, self-deprecating humor, Cronkite's memoir gives us the veteran TV newscaster at his most relaxed and ingratiating as he recounts dozens of his scoops." [3]

The LA Times recounts, "Cronkite is entitled to boast--especially in a book that is less surprising for its hubris than for the bitterness with which it ends. After almost 400 pages of great stories, unforgettable characters and impressive journalistic achievements at CBS, Cronkite complains that ultimately he was 'driven from the temple where for 19 years . . . I had worshiped the great god News'." [4]

Ashbel Green was the editor.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Barry</span> American author and columnist (born 1947)

David McAlister Barry is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic novels and children's novels. Barry's honors include the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary (1988) and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism (2005).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Cronkite</span> American broadcast journalist (1916–2009)

Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years, from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll. Cronkite received numerous honors including two Peabody Awards, a George Polk Award, an Emmy Award and in 1981 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Arnett</span> New Zealand-born journalist

Peter Gregg Arnett is a New Zealand-born American journalist. He is known for his coverage of the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. He was awarded the 1966 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting for his work in Vietnam from 1962 to 1965, mostly reporting for the Associated Press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Woodward</span> American investigative journalist (born 1943)

Robert Upshur Woodward is an American investigative journalist. He started working for The Washington Post as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the honorific title of associate editor though the Post no longer employs him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry McMurtry</span> American novelist (1936–2021)

Larry Jeff McMurtry was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. His novels included Horseman, Pass By (1962), The Last Picture Show (1966), and Terms of Endearment (1975), which were adapted into films. Films adapted from McMurtry's works earned 34 Oscar nominations. He was also a prominent book collector and bookseller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Pauley</span> American journalist

Margaret Jane Pauley is an American television host and author, active in news reporting since 1972. Pauley first became widely known as Barbara Walters's successor on the NBC morning show Today, beginning at the age of 25, where she was a co-anchor from 1976 to 1989, at first with Tom Brokaw, and later with Bryant Gumbel; for a short while in the late 1980s she and Gumbel worked with Deborah Norville. In 1989, with her job apparently threatened by Norville's addition to the program, she asked to be released from her contract, but her request was denied. Her next regular anchor position was at the network's newsmagazine Dateline NBC from 1992 to 2003, where she teamed with Stone Phillips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Walters</span> American journalist (1929–2022)

Barbara Jill Walters was an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, she appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including Today, the ABC Evening News, 20/20, and The View. Walters was a working journalist from 1951 until her retirement in 2015. Walters was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NATAS in 2000 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Ellroy</span> American writer (born 1948)

Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black Dahlia (1987) and L.A. Confidential (1990).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katharine Graham</span> American newspaper publisher (1917–2001)

Katharine Meyer Graham was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, The Washington Post, from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, which eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. She was one of the first 20th-century female publishers of a major American newspaper and the first woman elected to the board of the Associated Press.

<i>20/20</i> (American TV program) American television newsmagazine

20/20 (stylized as 2020) is an American television newsmagazine that has been broadcast on ABC since June 6, 1978. Created by ABC News executive Roone Arledge, the program was designed similarly to CBS's 60 Minutes in that it features in-depth story packages, although it focuses more on human interest stories than international and political subjects. The program's name derives from the "20/20" measurement of visual acuity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Bradlee</span> Executive editor of The Washington Post from 1968 to 1991

Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee was an American journalist who served as managing editor and later as executive editor of The Washington Post, from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the Post joined The New York Times in publishing the Pentagon Papers and gave the go-ahead for the paper's extensive coverage of the Watergate scandal in the 1970s. He was also criticized for editorial lapses when the Post had to return a Pulitzer Prize in 1981 after it discovered that its award-winning story was false.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Reasoner</span> American journalist (1923–1991)

Harry Reasoner was an American journalist for CBS and ABC News, known for his adroit use of language as a television commentator and as one of the original hosts of the news magazine 60 Minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Schieffer</span> American television journalist

Bob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist. He is known for his moderation of presidential debates, where he has been praised for his capability. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all four of the major Washington national assignments: the White House, the Pentagon, United States Department of State, and United States Congress. His career with CBS has almost exclusively dealt with national politics. He has interviewed every United States President since Richard Nixon, as well as most of those who sought the office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New London School explosion</span> Gas leak explosion in New London, Texas in 1937

The New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion and destroyed the London School in New London, Texas, United States. The disaster killed more than 300 students and teachers. As of 2021, the event is the third-deadliest disaster in the history of Texas, after the 1900 Galveston hurricane and the 1947 Texas City disaster.

Michael Korda is an English-born writer and novelist who was editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster in New York City.

<i>You Are There</i> (series) American historical educational television and radio series

You Are There is a 1947–57 American historical educational television and radio series broadcast over the CBS Radio and CBS Television networks.

Cameron L. Stauth is an American author and journalist who is best known for his narrative nonfiction accounts of true stories, and for his medical books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katy Tur</span> American author and journalist (born 1983)

Katherine Bear Tur is an American author, and broadcast journalist working as a correspondent for NBC News. Tur is an anchor for MSNBC, where since 2021 she has hosted Katy Tur Reports. She has also reported for the NBC news platforms Early Today, Today, NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press, and WNBC-TV, and for The Weather Channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Chiles</span> American journalist

Nick Chiles is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of 20 books. He writes primarily about African-American life and culture.

<i>Just Mercy</i> (book) Book by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (2014) is a memoir by American attorney Bryan Stevenson that documents his career defending disadvantaged clients. The book, focusing on injustices in the United States judicial system, alternates chapters between documenting Stevenson's efforts to overturn the wrongful conviction of Walter McMillian and his work on other cases, including children who receive life sentences, and other poor or marginalized clients.

References

  1. "A Reporter's Life". USA Today.
  2. Wicker, Tom. "Broadcast News". NY Times. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  3. "A Reporter's Life". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  4. Olney, Warren. "The Way We Were : A REPORTER'S LIFE. By Walter Cronkite". LA Times. Retrieved 22 June 2014.