Scotty: James B. Reston and the Rise and Fall of American Journalism - Softcover

Stacks, John F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803293399 ISBN 13: 9780803293397

Publisher: Bison Books, 2006

Synopsis

When President Kennedy finished a difficult meeting with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the first person he talked to was not one of his advisers, his vice president, or his wife. Walking out of the meeting, Kennedy spoke first with James B. Reston (1909–95). And so it was for president after president, from Truman through Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, and Carter. Reston was the most powerful, most admired, and most influential newspaper columnist America had ever seen, the best journalist of his time and perhaps of any time. He tapped into his vast reserves of intelligence, energy, and ambition to rise steadily in the ranks of the New York Times and helped make it the greatest paper in the world. Eventually, however, some of Reston’s greatest virtues became liabilities, and proximity to power took its toll. More than a brilliant biography, Scotty is a secret history—of one man’s life, of what went on behind closed Washington doors, of the stories that shaped our world and of those that never made the papers.

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Review:

Those of us in the journalism racket consume almost any book about our peers, but the really good ones speak beyond this inside audience to comment on the role the media plays in American society, and this ambitious biography of The New York Times celebrated Washington correspondent of the '60s does just that. James "Scotty" Reston was a shrewd and canny reporter of the old school (he always did the necessary legwork) with a skill for writing clear, direct, and sometimes poetic prose that struck directly at the heart of the matter. (As early as August 1965, he presciently wrote of Vietnam: "We could win the war and lose the people, and that would be the final irony of the story.") His diligence was rewarded with the sort of unfettered access to presidents and other top policymakers that is unthinkable today. The book opens with a vignette in which President Kennedy unburdens himself in incredibly frank language about his frightening meeting with Khrushchev in Vienna in 1961. (Kennedy talked to Reston minutes after the session ended, before he'd even briefed any of his top aides and advisors.)

For Stacks, a veteran reporter for Time magazine, the loss of this sort of access in favor of the relentless spin machine that dominates today is nothing less than a tragedy, but he isn't completely dewy-eyed about the past or his subject. In classic corporate fashion, Reston was promoted to his level of incompetence. He was a great reporter, but a lousy editor and later-day columnist, and he finally allowed his proximity to power to cloud his vision in the mid-'70s, when he essentially became a willing mouthpiece for the Machiavellian Henry Kissinger. In addition to tracking a fascinating story and offering a unique perspective on familiar historical events, Scotty is a worthy read for illustrating just how difficult it is to maintain the "outsider" stance necessary for good journalism--and just how much this country needs it. --Jim DeRogatis

About the Author:

John F. Stacks is a former deputy managing editor and chief of correspondents for Time magazine. For more than three decades he reported on Congress, the White House, and presidential politics, covering the national campaigns from 1968 through 1980. He is the author of three other books and lives in New York.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bison Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0803293399
• ISBN 13: 9780803293397
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 374