HOLLYWOOD INSIDE SYNDICATE
"The Eyes, Ears and Voice of Hollywood" (Since 1968)
BOOKS OF THE MONTH
December 15, 1999
By JOHN AUSTIN
TABLOID BABY
An Uncensored Account Of The Revolution
That Gave Birth To 21st Century TV...
TABLOID BABY is the first real account of how A Current Affair, Hard Copy and all the other tabloid shows that have gone by the (ratings) board the past decade or so transformed the way news and sensationalism is now treated on television including the local 6 and 11 p.m. news and, sometimes, but more often than not, the evening network news.. The book has already had a lot of exposure in major gossip columns, TV Guide and a well covered "launch party" two months ago."
Author Burt Kearns, who has been a top producer at A Current Affair and Hard Copy has revealed more "dirt" than we expected. We doubt that celebrities of the business , we are sure, will like being exposed by such an "inside source" as Kearns, nor will other members of the media. That "dirt" reveals a lot about media stars, celebrities and media practices within its almost 500 pages that many, we are sure, would have preferred such "dirt" stay under the carpet, so to speak!!
From our inside knowledge of tabloid journalism after thirty five years in the newspaper & TV business, we can assure you that Kearns has given us a really realistic account of what goes on - especially during the ratings sweepstakes months each year. During the period, the sky's the limit. Kearns also goes one better and shows in detail who's calling the shots and the cut-throat nature of the business. Kearns has come up with little known anecdotes about Geraldo Rivera and former talk show host Gordon Elliott. It is obvious that the underlying theme of all these shows was/is "get the ratings no matter you have to do and no matter who you hurt!" You can be rest assured that you, the reader have been given the obvious advantage of reading about the people, the drinking, the sex, the drugs, from someone on the inside who lived, ate, and breathed tabloid TV.
Tabloid Baby could even be considered, as many said at the launch party, the Front Page of the millennium, the Boogie Nights of journalism. This book is all about the hard living - many of them Brits and Aussies imported by Rupert Murdoch when he founded the weekly Star tabloid - gonzo journalists who changed history, turned American television news on its head and launched the "tabloid decade." We found it to be an utterly fascinating look at tabloid (TV) journalism that we didn't even know existed - especially the open check book kind which we had never been exposed to in our career. This, thanks to the tabloid TV shows, has forever changed.
Some of the names mentioned within its pages and anecdotes concerning them include Princess Diana, Rupert Murdoch, Joey Buttafuoco, Jerry Lewis, Elton John, Geraldo, Sammy Davis, Jr., Heidi Fleiss, Sinatra, M. Jackson, Howard Stern, Liz Taylor, Madonna, Marv Albert, Monica, Jon Benet Ramsey...everyone of these names has its own little niche in Tabloid Baby. Believe us, this book is undeniably true and authentic. It tells what really happened and what befell too much of network news broadcasts as the bad drove out the good.
TABLOID BABY by Burt Kearns, CELEBRITY BOOKS, $27.95 AT BOOK STORES EVERYWHERE OR CALL 615 254-2405
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