Almost done with This Just In by Bob Schieffer. I couldn't even wait to finish to put a review on Amazon. The book got good reviews, but "This Just In" entices people looking for deep insights into the world of journalism. It is far from that. Here's what I put on Amazon....

The title alludes to all kinds of 'secrets' to be told, and at a time when the debate over journalism itself is as much the topic of controversy, you would expect views and opinions relating to this as well as events throughout history. He covers historical events, but only as they effect him and his career. I would say there is a fair balance of insights on the news, and insights on himself. I kept waiting for something new on events of the past, but for the most part it was the same old stuff rehashed. This is due mainly because a lot of the story is about how he had been somewhere else as big news was taking place. You can't be everywhere at once, but he was rarely 'in the thick of things', and most of the 'inside' stuff was about the history makers he knew on a 'personal' level, though you get the impression it wasn't as personal as he makes it out to be.

I stopped looking for deep secrets when he referred to Al Gore's irrelevant statement about the Internet as 'a tall tale'. Anyone that doesn't take the media for granted and actually investigates this statement in context can see he doesn't think he 'invented' the Internet. The fact that Bob would make such a statement illustrates why his career took the course it did, and puts all the excuses throughout the book in their true light.

Still, if you want to know about the man, the book is very informative.

What I didn't say, only because I'm trying to be nice, was any comments about him going to Vietnam to cover the story there. He writes as if he's telling the story from the front lines, but it really seems to be a small time reporter with delusions of grandeur that whines and cries to his boss to let him cover a story that wasn't worth reporting about at the time. He was there for less than 6 months at the beginning, way before the controversy really heated up concerning the conflict. I would be willing to bet his boss sent him just to shut him up, his job would be to report about locals serving there, and if you are deluded into believing everything he says, you would think he was a hero of gargantuan proportions.

I'm hoping the next book I read by journalism Bernard Goldberg is just a little more informative....