by
3.5 of 5 stars
In 2000, after the Tribune Company acquired Times Mirror Corporation, it comprised the most powerful collection of newspapers in the world. How the... read full description

reviews

Nov 02, 2011
Carol rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Two deals, actually, are described in O'Shea's book. One is the Tribune Company's purchase of the Times Mirror company, which made the Los Angeles Times the Chicago Tribune troubled siblings, and the other was the purchase of the Tribune by uberfinancier Sam Zell. O'Shea does a magnificent job of detailing both deals and their aftereffects. O'Shea shifts his narrative pace for each deal. The LA Times fiasco takes on a jack-rabbity stop-and-go feel as O'Shea talks of the caprices of the Chandler More...
Nov 15, 2011
Chris rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Boy, this stuff sounds familiar. Not because I was following the trials and Tribuneilations of the newspaper business over the last few years -- I wasn't paying that much attention -- but because so much of it sounds like what has gone around me for the last year or so. This is a great example of what happens when metrics fail to meet vision.

O'Shea tries to make a case that the "moguls and Wall Street" destroyed the newspaper business over the last decade. I'm not sure he s More...
Oct 17, 2011
Dawn rated it: 4 of 5 stars
The Deal From Hell by James O’Shea is about the changes of journalism. The truth is that news media is changing and it is in trouble. People rely on honest journalism not a quick by-line but actual journalism where someone has researched a story and found evidence and support then that journalist will retell the tale so everyone can understand and be informed. Instead our world is becoming increasingly full of sound bites and quick articles from the wire.

James O’Shea attempts to pain More...
Dec 11, 2011
Brad rated it: 3 of 5 stars
O'Shea may think he's written a book about how profit-driven, ego-centric people ruined some of the nation's largest papers, but that's because his own biases are at work here.

Actually what this book does is paint a picture of why it's hard to run a newspaper as a for-profit business with the goal of constantly increasing revenue.

He belittles the bosses that want to print the stories "people want" involving celebraties and gossip rather than important news of conf More...
Jun 29, 2011
Therman rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Well-reported albeit biased insider look at the current state of print journalism and how it got here. Very easy to read. Recommended for journalism buffs.
Sep 20, 2011
g rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Journalism is dying. This guy is kind of self-obsessed.
Feb 22, 2012
Heng-cheong rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Feb 11, 2012
Stuart rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Feb 07, 2012
Bill marked it as to-read
Jan 03, 2012
Bryan rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Dec 02, 2011
Charlie rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Nov 12, 2011
Ron marked it as to-read
Nov 04, 2011
Jessica rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Oct 23, 2011
Jason marked it as to-read
Oct 19, 2011
Rhys marked it as to-read
Oct 19, 2011
Mike marked it as to-read
Oct 13, 2011
Gwen rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Oct 05, 2011
Bruce marked it as to-read
Sep 20, 2011
Markmasek rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Sep 09, 2011
Melissa marked it as to-read
Sep 06, 2011
Margaret is currently reading it
Sep 05, 2011
Chi-Chu added it
Sep 12, 2011
Grumpus rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Aug 25, 2011
Barry Graubart marked it as to-read
Aug 22, 2011
Leigh marked it as to-read
Aug 20, 2011
Elizabeth marked it as to-read
Aug 15, 2011
Jeffc rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Aug 14, 2011
Chad marked it as to-read
Aug 13, 2011
Joseph marked it as to-read
Aug 11, 2011
Mikekennelly rated it: 2 of 5 stars