Truth And Duty: The Press, The President, And The Privilege Of Power

Author : Mary Mapes

Publisher : St. Martin's Press

Published Year : 2005

Edition : 1

Format : Hardcover, 384 pages

Dimensions : 6.28 (w) x 9.46 (h) x 1.29 (d)

ISBN : 031235195x

ISBN13 : 9780312351953

Overview :

"It was a great story, a true story. The kind of story any news producer would love to report, nail down, and get on the air. And that's just what Mary Mapes and her producing and reporting team did in September 2004 when Dan Rather of CBS News anchored their report on President George W. Bush's dereliction of his National Guard duty. The firestorm that followed their broadcast trashed Mapes's well-respected career, caused Rather to resign from his anchor chair a year early, and led to an unprecedented "internal inquiry" into the story - chaired by former Reagan attorney general Richard Thornburgh." Truth and Duty is Mapes's account of the often surreal, always harrowing fallout she experienced for raising questions about a powerful sitting president. It examines Bush's political roots as governor of Texas and sheds light on the solidity of the documents at the heart of the National Guard story as well as where they came from. Her book takes readers into the newsroom, where coverage decisions are made, and out into the field, where the real reporting is done. It is peopled with a colorful and vigorous cast of characters - from Karl Rove to Sumner Redstone and Bill Burkett to Dan Rather - and moves from small-town rural Texas to the deserts of Afghanistan, from hurricane season in Florida to CBS corporate headquarters - aka Black Rock - in New York City.