Hard News : The Scandals at The New York Times and Their Meaning for American Media

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Summary: Compulsively readable, memorable characters
Review: "Hard News" is an unstoppable account of an editor's abuse of power and a reporter's abuse of trust. People may say that a book was "hard to put down." In the case of "Hard News," I picked it up, read for a few hours, went to bed, and then actually woke up at 4 a.m. thinking about the book and had to read it to the end. That has never happened to me before. Mnookin's feats of reporting, fast-paced style, and gripping and insightful yarn are impressive, but not what makes the book stand out. Rather, what kept me turning the pages was the way the characters of Jayson Blair and Howell Raines emerged, developed and then seemed to coalesce into two sides of the same coin of egomaniacal dysfunction. Subtle, devastating, and incredibly fun to read.

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Summary: Must Read - one of the year's most important books
Review: Few contemporary tales are as compelling as this one, or more important. At a time when we are ever more dependent on reliable, truthful news sources our faith in the institutions was challenged by Jayson Blair's deceit and Howell Raines' ego. Seth Mnookin has crafted a masterful tale, finding both insight and explanation. This book should be on everyone's "must read" list. The good news about Hard News is that, it's a great read to boot.



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Summary: A tale for our times
Review: Great writing. Fascinating Material. If it weren't true it would be a great novel. Because it is true it is all the more gripping a tale. If we ever hope to trust the NYTimes again, this is the story we need to know. Thanks to you Seth for bringing it to us, first in Newsweek, and now, in the depth we've all been waiting for, here.

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Summary: a modern all the presidents men
Review: i was given this book as a gift, and i didn't expect to enjoy it -- outside of all the presidents men, i've never read a book on journalism that really interested me. but this is a gripping and fascinating story. its more like a drama or a detective story than some book about media morals and it gave me a great look inside a weird and fascinating institution. i'd recommend it to anybody.

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Summary: suspenseful
Review: I was skeptical about this book, because I felt like I already knew everything about the Jayson Blair scandal. But like the movie "Shattered Glass" (about the New Republic's Stephen Glass), this book manages to turn the facts into a suspense story. And for a media junkie like myself, it's a great glimpse into the inner workings of the NY Times.

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Summary: The New York Times....between the lines
Review: Seth Mnookin has written a sensational book regarding the downfall of two employees of the New York Times in 2003 and the sullied reputation for which the Times has fought hard to atone. The story revolves around an aspiring reporter, Jayson Blair, who finally got caught plagiarizing many columns while inventing others, and Howell Raines, the Darth Vader of the journalism world. If there ever was a boss one wouldn't want to have, Mnookin shows us that Raines was that man.

The larger element is the world of the Times, the most important and influential newspaper in the world. Mnookin has a way with narrative and for those of us who have grown up with the Times he reveals the underside of a finished product. Like the old saying, "the two things no one wants to see made are laws and sausages", the author spins a chilling tale of how the incidents with Blair and the heavy-handedness of Raines brought the Times to its knees. When you read the Times on a daily basis it's sometimes hard to believe what goes on behind their closed doors. Mnookin takes us inside that world and reveals a site of petty politics, bruised egos, ambitious reporters and a workplace that often borders on the chaotic. There are good and bad people in this book.


I highly recommend "Hard News". It's so good that once you get into it, you'll find it hard to put down.

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Summary: Required reading
Review: This book should be required reading for every journalism student. It's an accurate account of how things could go terribly wrong at "The Old Gray Lady," and I found it fascinating.

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Summary: FirstReview (New Orleans, LA)
Review: This is the first review I've ever written, only because I want to encourage every American to read this book. It well researched, well written, responsible, insightful and very telling of how low our newspapers execs are willing to stoop. From now on everytime I pick up the NY Times I will wonder how much of the print is bogus! Thank you Mr. Mnookin for blowing their cover. I expect we will see and read more of this up rising young star author.


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Summary: a must read
Review: Very absorbing. Mnookin takes the reader inside the workings of The New York Times. He shows us Jayson Blair, who managed to write stories from locations he never visited, and Howell Raines, the editor whose newsroom style allowed this to happen. Most of all he shows us the reporters who uncovered the story. And then he connects the dots: what can the media learn from this, what does it tell us about how we get our news, what news we get. Read it. It's a good story. It's an important story.

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Summary: Read it!
Review: Whether or not you're interested in media stuff per se, this book is a wonderful read. Seth Mnookin has a superb sense of how organizations work and the way that the strengths and weaknesses of individual reporters and editors combined to make possible the incidents of the Jayson Blair story. It's really fascinating, and the book is consistently well-written and gripping. I can't imagine someone not enjoying this book--it's a good present for anybody who's interested in institutions and psychology and history and wants to hear a fascinating and often sordid tale about human weakness.