Howard Kurtz

An analysis of the current status of network television news in the United States examines the personal lives of the anchors, how they see their role, and how the news is packaged and presented.

In Spin Cycle, Washington Post reporter Howard Kurtz reveals the inside workings of Clinton's well-oiled propaganda machine - arguably the most successful team of White House spin doctors in history. He takes the reader into closed-door meetings where Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Mike McCurry, Lanny Davis, and other top officials plot strategy to beat back the scandals and neutralize a hostile press corps through stonewalling, stage managing, and outright intimidation. He depicts a White House obsessed with spin and pulls back the curtain on events and tactics that the administration would prefer to keep hidden.

America is awash in talk. Loud talk. Angry talk. Conspiratorial talk. This cacophony of rumor, opinion, and invective has produced a high-decibel revolution that is transforming the nature of politics and journalism. How these television and radio talk shows have become so powerful and why we should be concerned about them is the subject of Howard Kurtz's fascinating and maddening new book, Hot Air. With the penetrating analysis that has distinguished him as one of the nation's most influential media journalists, Kurtz goes behind the scenes to explore the allure and impact of America's biggest mouths: Rush Limbaugh, Phil Donahue, Michael Kinsley and Don Imus. Kurtz also goes backstage at Nightline and Larry King Live, two outposts of sanity, and describes how such programs are put together. He takes an amusing tour of the airwaves with provocateur Howard Stern and a corps of influential local hosts. He explores the bizarre world of daytime talk and explains why civilized conversation has given way to a procession of freaks and food fights. Along the way, Kurtz shows how journalism is threatened by some of these shows and illustrates how the inherent negativity of talk on the airwaves corrodes the political process.

"Howard Kurtz turns his eye on the business-media revolution that has transformed the American economy. He uncovers the backstage pressures at television shows like CNBC's Squawk Box and CNN's Moneyline; at old-media bastions like The Wall Street Journal and Business Week, which are racing to keep up with the twenty-four-hour news cycle; and at Internet start-ups like The Street.com and JagNotes, real-time operations in the very arena where fortunes are made and lost with stunning swiftness."--BOOK JACKET.