Almost Golden: Jessica Savitch and the Selling of Television News

Cocaine, Suicides, abusive sex, abortions, lesbianism, amphetamines, disposable marriages. Such was not the life of some self-destructive rock star, but rather the portrayal of Jessica Savitch. Unfortunately the Savitch family did not cooperate with Blair, so much of the gosspi remains unattributed, undocumented, and unexamined. Blair, who wrote a column for Mademoiselle, is more successful in tracing the rise and fall of Savitch's career and the distorted values of the television news world. Bl [...]

Understand two things: (1) This is really a glorified master's thesis about the history of television news, with Savitch grafted on to it for marketability's sake, and (2) Blair has complete contempt for Savitch. Skip this and read Golden Girl by Alanna Nash instead.

A book every aspiring broadcast journalist should read. As a recent graduate of Ithaca College, I went through school hearing and believing that IC alumnae Jessica Savitch was somewhat of a hero for women in the news. I attended the school's Jessica Savitch Lecture Series in which her sister Stephanie gave speeches about her widely talented sister. I thought she was what every female journalist should aspire to be. Boy was I wrong. This book opened my eyes to the "real" Jessica Savitch--not the [...]

I learned you can buy a book for five dollars from HEB in Texas and it really is a good buy. But it's a chick book, men prob. wouldn't like it, but it was great insight into the fakery of broadcast and the cat fights (men and women)which occur therein.

Worth reading for its inside look at the high-pressure TV news industry (of the 70's). As a bio of this driven and neurotic woman, its a bit sketchier (though not bad), and the story ends in an ironic anticlimax.

I just remember thinking what a sad, wasted life for someone who had so much potential.

Gossipy. But an interesting read.

I don't remember much about this book except that Savitch's story was so, so sad.