Zusatztext 77561378 Informationen zum Autor Dave Kindred has reported and written for newspapers and magazines for forty-five years. He has been a Washington correspondent, sports columnist, and general-interest columnist. His work has won the Red Smith Award, sports journalism's highest honor, as well as a National Headliner award for general-interest columns. Kindred's stories have been anthologized in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. He is the author of eight books, including, most recently, Sound and Fury , the dual biography of Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell. Klappentext In this in-depth! behind-the-scenes look at The Washington Post! Pulitzer Prize nominee Dave Kindred describes the turmoil and triumph of a news organization during the most chaotic media revolution in five hundred years. Morning Miracle takes readers inside the heart of a legendary paper in transition from newsprint to the digital realm! capturing the ambition! enthusiasm! and commitment to excellence that remains at the heart of world-class daily journalism. This fascinating look into the professionalism that drives one of our nation's greatest papers demonstrates that though newsprint may vanish! great journalism will always matter. Leseprobe 1. BALLS AND GHOSTS Eugene Meyer's first steps into newspaper history came on the staircase of his baronial country estate in Mount Kisco, in Westchester County, just north of New York City. Meyer was a titan of American business, wealthy beyond an ordinary man's dreams,and newly resigned from President Roosevelt's Federal Reserve Board. At age fifty-seven, he had become worn and weary; his wife, Agnes, saw him at "death's door." He had decided to retire and make way for the next generation, an idea that made sense in theabstract. In practice, however, it was hell. For a man accustomed to the frenzied swirl of political and financial action, a retiree's regret set in quickly. Two weeks of sleep, rest, and nothing to do had made Meyer bright-eyed, alert, and restless. As hedescended the curving staircase, running his fingers along the bannister, he felt dust. He murmured to his wife, "This house is not properly run." She answered, "Eugene, it's time you bought the Post." The famous British publisher Alfred Charles Northcliffe had said, "Of all the American newspapers I would prefer to own The Washington Post, because it reaches the breakfast tables of the members of Congress." Agnes Meyer's order to her husband was bornof prior knowledge, for Meyer had tried to buy papers in Washington and was still eager to own the Post. "If he succeeds," Mrs. Meyer wrote in her diary, "it will be a sensation and we shall have a reputation for Machiavellian behavior"--they had told friendsthey were done with Washington. As for the inevitable expense, she wrote, "what after all is money for if not to be used . . . It is a great opportunity for E. to be a dominant influence in this formative period of the new America . . . a great chance to becreative." On this day in May 1933, The Washington Post was not the powerful, proud journal of Lord Northcliffe's memory. It had fallen so far from grace that its very survival was in question. The newspaper's owner was Edward Beale (Ned) McLean. He had inherited great wealth and married a woman even richer than himself. The fool's one original idea in a lifetime of profligacy seemed to have been the jury-rigging of a handkerchief sling to steadyhis drinking arm. His wife, Evalyn, the daughter of a prospector who found gold in the Rocky Mountains, spoke of Ned as "a queer, queer fellow" whose problems were "the natural consequences of unearned wealth in undisciplined hands." As a measure of her ownself-indulgence, she lived with the adulterous sot for twenty years. They shared a mansion on I Street where Ned McLea...

“A powerful implicit argument for the irreducible value of sophisticated and fearless accountability reporting. . . . A distressing but nakedly heartfelt book. . . . Morning Miracle may be the best semi-insider’s account we’ll get about a newspaper’s losing season of red ink, cutbacks and institutional angst amid the current industry crisis. . . . Kindred is a connoisseur of journalists’ voices. . . . [He writes with] a sportswriter’s unfailing good humor and sympathy for his chorus of ink-stained wretches.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“A love story, a tale of passion starring a faded beauty trying desperately to hang on in a rapidly changing world. . . . Kindred paints a vivid picture of the paper, its people, its triumphs and its struggle to survive in a media landscape transformed profoundly and inexorably by the Internet.”
—The Washington Post

“Revelatory and entertaining. . . . A poignant and indelible reminder about the importance of the First Amendment.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
 
“Morning Miracle will appeal to news junkies everywhere, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea for anyone concerned about thorough and accurate coverage of the news hereafter to have a look.”
—Providence Journal

“An intimate look at one of America’s most prestigious and powerful newspapers. . . . A heartfelt—and often-heartbreaking—tale of the challenges faced not only by The Post but by every other American newspaper. . . . Miracle is both a tribute to journalists and journalism and a case study of the ramifications of the corporate downsizing of newspapers. It also captures the odd yet committed nature of journalists.”
—The Columbus Dispatch
 
“Addictive. . . . Like all good reporters, Kindred tells this informative and entertaining story through people—the Post’s stars and drudges, its curmudgeons and eccentrics—to elucidate its triumphs and failures.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
 
“A rich portrait. . . . With a romantic’s love of the reporting life, unique access to the inner chambers of the Post and a gift for hand-tooled writing, Kindred tells how, as the subtitle implies, a great newspaper fights for its life. The result is a book as engaging as any contemporary novel and as telling as any history about America today.”
—The Roanoke Times (Virginia)
 
“Kindred epitomizes the classic sports columnist: dogged, eloquent, skeptical yet enthusiastic, dedicated more to his craft than his ‘brand.’ His 8-page introduction alone is worth the cost of the book. . . . For anyone interested in how newspapers work, [Morning Miracle] is a must-read.”
—The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky)
 
“Morning Miracle is both a love letter to newspapers and an elegy for days long gone. . . . [Kindred] nails what's wrong with newspapers in general, and with the Post in particular.”
—AARP Magazine
 
“Busy and exciting and fun to read. . . . Kindred has a real gift for describing his fellow Posties. . . . [And] is equally adept at describing action in the newsrooms. . . . His book successfully takes the reader inside a great newspaper as it tries to endure.”
—Columbia Journalism Review
 
“There’s always some guy in the newsroom who knows the real story.”
—Roger Ebert
 
“Kindred’s book is the miracle, making this old New York Times man wish he had spent at least one shining moment in the heartbreaking romance of The Washington Post.”
—Robert Lipsyte
 
“This is a book about reporting and reporters. The best reporter involved in it is the one writing it. Through his talent, his wit, and his uncommon humanity, Kindred demonstrates a love for journalism as a job, as a craft, and, above all, as a calling. In fact, he loves it more tha…