Me and Ted Against the World : The Unauthorized Story of the Founding of CNN

Customer Reviews

As quircky as Ted Turner was, the new staff was nothing short of a creative miracle. This book tracks the rise and fall of CNN. Some of the best stories were how with a smaller budget and less assets that CNN endlessly found workarounds which screwed over the larger networks.

I actually read this while I was in a makeshift navy jail, and it did more than just pass the time.

By exposing the guts of a news machine, and insightfully comparing different coverage of the same event, Me and Ted gives you a level of news literacy that lets you appreciate it more. This level of detail -- clearly coming from someone obsessed with his creation -- is amazing and rarely tedious. Combine it with Randall Rothenberg's advertising expose "Where the Suckers Moon", for a good start at understanding post-70s America.

The one drawback ... But once you get used to filtering it out, Me and Ted becomes a wonderful book.

And he has the courage to expose the roles of CNN execs in the Tailwind cave-in. (alluded to but not well covered in Neil Hickey's CJR review).

It is a must read for anyone in broadcast journalism.

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