Eyewitness NewsMan Book by Al Primo (Paperback)
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Product Description
Creator of Eyewitness News and Peabody Award recipient Al Primo has authored a dynamic book that looks at the television news business from the inside. Eyewitness Newsman chronicles the history of the Eyewitness News concept, showing how one man with a vision challenged the journalistic establishment to create a newscast format that is the industry standard to this day. The New York Daily News said that Primo Almost single handedly changed the face of television news. Primo literally worked his way up from a Pittsburgh television station mailroom to the position of network executive. Along with way he turned the white male dominated news business on its ear, creating a beat system that featured a culturally diverse news team. Along the way he discovered people like Geraldo Rivera and helped turn Tom Snyder into a household name. Eyewitness Newsman takes you behind the scenes and offers a unique look at broadcasting legends like Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford, Roger Grimsby, Bill Beutel, Frank Gifford, Bill Burns and Rona Barrett.
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Product Reviews
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Fascinating Look at TV News
Posted by Paul S. on 27th Oct 2008
Al Primo is one of the "founding fathers" of television news. He's the man who invented (Created? Founded? Shaped? Fashioned? Formed? Molded? Planned? Instituted?) the "Eyewitness News" format. Forget what you've heard about "happy talk." It was Al Primo who first said, Let's stop writing newspaper-style stories hoping we have some pictures that might fit. Let's use the unique tools available to us to take our viewers by the hand and transport them to the scenes of stories. Let's work on their behalf, so that through us they can be "eyewitnesses" to the day's news. Long before Fox said "We Report, You Decide" Al Primo was determined to give viewers more than just a recitation of the facts, he wanted them to feel the story--or rather, to come away from the TV set with the same feeling they'd have had if they had been at the event themselves. He wanted stories told BY real people FOR real people in a way real people could understand, not by deep-voiced anchors pontificating from on high. It was the people's news.
Today, forty years after he brought his genius from KYW in Philadelphia to WABC in New York, all television news is rooted in his concepts. And it's not just TV. Anyplace you see moving pictures and the spoken word used to tell news stories you can see Al Primo's guiding hand.
The book is the personal history of a kid who worked his way up out of the mail room in a Pittsburgh TV station to become a guiding force for all of broadcast journalism. Along the way he introduces his cast of characters: men and women who believed what Al taught, that watching TV news should be an experience. It could move you--and anger you--and tickle you--and inform you--and make you indignant, all in the space of a half-hour. And it should be delivered by a recognizable cast of "real people" characters, like Roger Grimsby, Bill Beutel, Geraldo Rivera, Howard Cosell, Joan Lunden and many, many more.
A remarkable book by a remarkable man.
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A TV News Eye Opener
Posted by Lew Pinsker on 27th Oct 2008
If you are interested in how your local TV newscast gets put together every night, this is the book for you. Mr. Primo was the inventer of contemporary TV news, and his book is a concise and easy to read history written by someone who was there, and who was responsible for many of the innovations which make TV news interesting and relevant.
As a bonus, the book includes inside information on some familiar names Primo worked with including Geraldo Rivera, Howard Cosell, and Tom Snyder.
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Eyewitness News Delivers, October 19, 2008
Posted by Last activity one week ago Babette V. on 27th Oct 2008
Al Primo provides insightful analysis on news coverage. For example, it highlights some priceless examples of how to beat back the competition in this cut throat line of work. It is also quite instructive on how to grab at viewers and build brand loyalty. How Primo created both the Eyewitness News format and an exceptional, although quite eccentric, team of reporters is very entertaining to boot.
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Let the Picture Do The Talking, October 11, 2008
Posted by Stephen T. Romaine "Steve Romaine" on 27th Oct 2008
This book is hilarious. Tells the story behind the story of how a motley crew of news reporters changed the way TV broadcasts news. Some like Geraldo Rivera, Howard Cosell and Joan Lunden went on to become broadcast icons. The stories about Geraldo threatening riots in the street, Howard Cosell's missing toupee, and Roger Grimsby's outragegous one the air cynical snipes at other reporters left me in stiches.
Al Primo was the maestro behind the scenes. Not only did he provide the innovative approach that moved news away from the set piece studio with stilted empty suits "reading" the news in front of camera, he had his hands full herding the cats... Not to mention tempering the inflated egos of his new breed of diverse, in your face, reporters. Before cable and reality TV there was "Reality News," thanks to Al Primo and the Eyewitness News Team.
A most enjoyable read.
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The Pioneer, October 9, 2008
Posted by Andrew Palumbo "Andy P." on 27th Oct 2008
Al Primo is the one who invented modern television news. "Eyewitness Newsman" should be required reading in all college broadcasting and journalism schools. Primo mixes tales of the early days with common sense advice that's still relevant today. It's a good read.