joyality's review

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challenging informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

zinelib's review against another edition

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just couldn't get into it. stressed. blame the iof

etrain's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

betsyrisen's review

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4.0

I found this book really interesting for a number of reasons. While the book is written focusing on the span of time encompassing every aspect of Margaret Sullivan's career, I'm finding lately how honestly intriguing I am finding books written focusing on the aspects of the last 5 years or so. The Clinton campaign, the Trump presidency, the coronavirus pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine... time comes at you fast...

I always say "history is long but memory is short." And I know this might be a side effect of getting old, but its seemed we've had more breaking news lately than is really necessary, ok universe? Nonetheless, I found this book refreshing and would certainly recommend it. If I'd started down a different path at the start, I could easily see myself in Margaret Sullivan's world.

toddlleopold's review

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3.0

Really 2.5 stars. The last chapters would have made a fine essay from Sullivan, who wrote incisive and entertaining columns for the NYT and Washington Post, but the earlier chapters — essentially a memoir of her journalistic life — shed little light on who she was, or became. Or, to be blunt, they weren’t that interesting.

A missed opportunity.

vanillafire's review

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adventurous hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

nicholemanna's review

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

amymo73's review

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5.0

Disclaimer: I worked for Margaret Sullivan at The Buffalo News. She hired me when I was a young sports reporter. So there is some likely bias.

That said, I loved this book. I loved the writing style. I loved how she wove her story of life in journalism with her critique of the state of American journalism.

Of the parts I found most interesting- and troubling- was her look at the role the media, and the NYT specifically, played in the 2016 presidential election. The media for the most part believed Hilary would win and so covered her campaign AS IF she was the president elect. A forgone conclusion. So they were getting a jump in a way on covering her presidency, instead of covering the campaign.

I agreed with so much of what she wrote about journalism’s role in democracy and especially enjoyed her look at “objectivity” and conflating that with “both side” reporting:
“Too often, the allegiance to objectivity ends up with an unintended consequence, a kind of defensive neutrality sometimes described as ‘both-sides’ journalism, in which unequal claims are treated as if they were equally valid. That’s no good. To put it in simple terms: If one side claims it’s raining outside, and the other side claims the sun is shining, it’s not the journalist’s job to quote both equally; it’s their job to walk outside, look at the sky, and report the truth.”

graham_greene_lantern's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

bargainsleuth's review

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3.0

For other book reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com

Margaret Sullivan has served as a journalist for decades, spending most of her time in Buffalo, before making her way to the New York Times as a watchdog editor. As a former print and broadcast journalist, I enjoy these types of memoirs like catnip. Sullivan describes how the media failed in the 2016 election cycle, and how it has further degraded in the ensuing years. The first 70% of the book was fascinating; the last 30% felt like a really long op-ed for a magazine and I lost some steam reading it. Overall, still a good read.