Book Description

Crusaders, Scoundrels, Journalists traces the lives and times of nearly 300 American newspeople, from the colonial printer who wrote about the sex life of the king of France to the Global Village anchor who as a young man stood up dates in order to listen to Edward R. Murrow. Great journalism has a rich past. So does lousy journalism. This entertaining book introduces readers to the inside story of news, as told by journalistic sleuths and sloths, martyrs and moguls, First Amendment heroes and notorious scandalmongers. Hear them talk about how and why they do what they do: "Telegraph fully all news...and when there is no news send rumors." --Wilbur Storey "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough." --Robert Capa "Even more than the words, the way the words are said colors the telling." --Susan Stamberg "You just use pictures when you have them and words when you don't." --David Brinkley "There were virtually no Negro role models in communications in 1946... So what was I doing on this journey?" --Carl Rowan "I didn't wave the flag and didn't burn my bra. I just kept on working and stayed close to women on and off the camera." --Barbara Walters "We are better off showing people everything instead of managing what people see." --Brian Lamb "Journalism is actually the last unexplored literary frontier." --Truman Capote With the help of some of the nation's leading journalism historians, Crusaders, Scoundrels, Journalists profiles intriguing American newspeople from the 1690s to the 1990s. What we love and hate about them is what we love and hate about our culture. Knowing them and where they'vebeen is a first step toward better understanding where we are today. The Newseum and The Freedom Forum The Newseum, the only interactive museum of news, opened in April 1997 to popular and critical acclaim. The 72,000-square-foot Newseum is the largest operating program of The Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan, international foundation dedicated to free press, free speech, and free spirit for all people. Other operating programs are the Media Studies Center in New York City and the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. The Freedom Forum was established in 1991 under the direction of founder Allen H. Neuharth as successor to the Gannett Foundation. That foundation had been established by Frank E. Gannett in 1935.