Truth and Duty, Mary Mapes
Truth and Duty, Mary Mapes
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Truth and Duty
The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power

Author: Mary Mapes

Narrator: Mary Mapes

Abridged: 4 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/08/2005


Synopsis

A riveting account of how the public's right to know is being attacked by an unholy alliance among politicians, news organizations and corporate America.

Truth and Duty was made into the 2015 film Truth, starring Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Topher Grace and Elizabeth Moss.

For twenty five years, Mary Mapes has been an award-winning television producer and reporter -- the last fifteen of them for CBS News, principally for the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and 60 Minutes. She had the bedrock of respect of her peers -- in 2003 alone, she broke the story of the Abu Ghraib prison tortures (which won CBS The Peabody Award) and the existence of Strom Thurmond's illegitimate bi-racial daughter Essie Mae Washington.

But it was Dan Rather's lightning rod of a story on George W. Bush's National Guard Service that brought Mapes into an unwanted limelight. The firestorm that followed the broadcast led not only to Mapes' firing and Rather's stepping down from his anchor chair a year early, but to an unprecedented "internal" inquiry into the story -- chaired by former Reagan Attorney General Richard Thornburgh.

Peopled with an historic and colorful cast of characters—from Karl Rove to Summer Redstone to John Kerry to Col. Bobby Hodges -- this groundbreaking book about how the television news is made (and unmade) made headlines itself when first published. But this, it turns out, is only part of the story. Mapes talks for the first time about the riveting behind-the-scenes action at CBS during this frenzied period and exposes some of the largest political and social controversies that have broken in this new age of dissonance.

* Features a new chapter for the trade paper edition

About Mary Mapes

Mary Mapes began her career in Seattle at KIRO-TV and was a Peabody Award- winning producer for 60 Minutes. She lives in Dallas.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Scott on January 15, 2023

A journalist must have a thick skin. I was told this by several of my co-workers when I went to work at a small suburban newspaper in 2000. I was in my late-20s and excited to have a job that would utilize my writing skills. My four years of college and several thousands of dollars in student debt w......more

Goodreads review by Hazel on August 02, 2008

This was an excellent book. For the most part, the writing was engaging (only to be expected from someone who works in news), and the stuff that Mapes discussed (ranging from the purpose of journalism and journalistic ethics, to the effect of anonymity in blogs, to the privilege and clout associated......more

Goodreads review by Paulatics on February 16, 2016

I read this book after watching the excellent movie on which it is based. It is well-written and heartfelt. Ms. Mapes was scapegoated and treated miserably by the corporate power at CBS. Dan Rather lost his job, too. She is an excellent journalist and she and Dan Rather told a story that needed to b......more

Goodreads review by Jeremy on February 04, 2015

I was very disappointed with this book. Being a former senior producer for CBS News and 60 Minutes, I was expecting a very insightful and interesting look into modern investigative reporting as well as the business of the news from the author. Instead, I found a very whiny and childish tirade agains......more

Goodreads review by Luci on July 23, 2015

Well written compelling story of the Dan Rather debacle. I read this in advance of the movie that comes out with Robert Redford this fall. Well worth it, if you are into politics.......more