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Dish: How Gossip Became the News and the News Became Just Another Show
"Gossip." It's more than just hearsay. society columns, and supermarket tabloids. It has, like it or not, become a mainstay of American pop culture. In "Dish, " industry insider Jeannette Walls gives this provocative subject its due, offering a comprehensive, serious exploration of gossip and its social, historical, and political significance. Examining
...morePaperback, 384 pages
Published
February 1st 2001
by William Morrow & Company
(first published 2000)
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In this book Jeannette Walls chronicles tabloid journalism from the 1930's to the present. The rose colored glasses were torn from my eyes and any illusions regarding serious journalism vs tabloid shattered. The biggest shock to my nervous system was learning that my beloved "60 Minutes" is/was primarily based on smarmy standards akin to The Enquirer. Celebrity sleeze and scandal. Shock and awe. Eeeek. I used to watch it faithfully every Sunday and my world view was based on the trust ...more
If you don't think the world of gossip is bought and paid for by the people who are portrayed, think again. This was an eye opening book about the back story of publications such as People and the Enquirer and TV shows such as Entertainment Tonight. I was very much surprised at the deals that are struck by the stars and the rags, (If you'll give us a scoop about your alcoholic son we won't publish a story about your infidelities). All the popular names in recent history, JFK, Bobby Kennedy, Mari...more
I would read Jeannette Walls grocery lists, I adore her so. The history of tabloids - what's not to love? The thoroughness of this book is shocking, and in parts it was almost too thorough for me. With the early history, most of the people were unfamiliar, and I found myself flipping around to remind myself of who they were when the tabloid world began to overlap and become quite incestuous. When the people involved were familiar to me, I could not put this down. WOW. I will say I will rarely (I...more
Fascinating history on gossip columnists, broadcasters, and rags like the National Enquirer (as well as spilling some dishy dirt). A lot of it was eye-opening to me. I read a few reviews where some people said not much was revealed. I guess I keep my head in the sand because I was shocked by some of the things I read. The fact that the book gave the history on how gossip came to be in the press/broadcasts as opposed to just being an outright expose on celebrities/politicians/name-of-the-day is...more
If you read "Glass Castle" by this author, you know she is some kind of writer. That book states that she is a columnist for MSNBC, I think. I was surprised to find out that she's a gossip columnist, which seems too frivolous for her. She has a new book out that I was trying to get at my library and I think it's too new, so I'll have to wait. In the meantime I found this book, and it's fascinating. It's not about personalities so much as it is about the history of gossip, from "Ho...more
I really enjoyed this book. I was a bit surprised by the complicitness of the stars in dishing their own dirt. Call me naive, but I really believed that celebrities were angry by the tales told by the tabloids. Not so, not so, at least in many cases. I was also amazed at how much information was kept back from the public regarding our political leaders. That was a bit disturbing. My naivite again, I guess.
DISH is an entertaining read and the other flavors it with tidbits of juicy gos...more
DISH is an entertaining read and the other flavors it with tidbits of juicy gos...more
This book title intrigued me...because I wondered how the nightly news and/or newspapers had become so "gossipy". The author has done her research and has documented the trend of straight newsreporting into the current news shows which prevail either on network TV, cable or printed matter. I chose 3 stars because, although the Cliff note version of the book would have suited me as well or better, this is a well written, very well documented book of the history of written and spoken j...more
Ms. Walls has researched thoroughly for this unusual book.
I have noticed that even the 'mainstream' press has become enamored of tabloid type 'reporting' the past 10 years or so, and the past few years there is a dearth of HARD news, but the gossipy tabloid crap is overwhelming.
This book tracks the development of the trend to replace hard news with tabloid crap. It is a very good read.
I have noticed that even the 'mainstream' press has become enamored of tabloid type 'reporting' the past 10 years or so, and the past few years there is a dearth of HARD news, but the gossipy tabloid crap is overwhelming.
This book tracks the development of the trend to replace hard news with tabloid crap. It is a very good read.
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Addicted to celebrity gossip and have no idea why? This book is a fun way to learn about the history and politics of the entire industry. I'll open next month's People magazine with a different perspective.
I love Jeannette Walls and I thought I'd love this book, too. I thought it would be really intriguing. But I just couldn't get into it. There weren't any "characters " I cared about. Guess that's why I don't like to watch the news. I think the subject is fascinating, because the news really is just another gossip show. Just watching all those up-and-coming reporters as they fake their emotions makes me sick. I wanted the book to be a more scathing rant against what current news ...more
I picked this book up at the library because I loved Jeannette Walls's The Glass Castle. Walls is a gossip writer in New York (the opposite of her difficult childhood?), and this book is about the history of gossip/tabloid media (newspaper, TV, internet). It is really fascinating, very dense (slow going sometimes)--not a quick read but very interesting and well-written.
I think my assessment of this book may be skewed on account of having read the first hundred or so pages aloud. This slowed me down so I think my feeling the the book drags might be due more to the way I read it than the book itself.
So, I didn't love the book overall, but it was interesting to see the pendulum swing to and from gossip through time. I also really enjoyed the chapter on "gatekeepers" toward the end. It was fascinating to see the intricacies of the celebri...more
So, I didn't love the book overall, but it was interesting to see the pendulum swing to and from gossip through time. I also really enjoyed the chapter on "gatekeepers" toward the end. It was fascinating to see the intricacies of the celebri...more
It was ok, I am a big Jeanette Walls fan, but frnkly this book could have been written by anyone. The topic was entertaining, but it was very redundant. The book was wrought with combersome detail, that almost seemed repetitive at times.
Very interesting and a quick read. I'd love to read an updated version for the internet age. I bet Jeannette Walls would have some things to say about TMZ and Perez Hilton.
Gives the scoop on gossip columnists, broadcasters, and scandal sheets like the National Enquirer.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It gives the back story of the gossip industry, which is practically all journalism nowadays! I had read Jeannette Walls' two memoirs and this was completely different. This book was very well researched and she names all the names. Fascinating!
sounds like what it is... a history of how gossip columns & tabloids came to be
2008- Kinda dry.
The history of celebrity gossip. Sounds great, right? Not so much.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It is still a journalist writing about journalism and so is biased, but it does show how news reporting has changed since WWII. News reporting is no longer news, but is often opinion pieces about events. Often the subjects are covered in a gossip fashion. I did learn some things and had many things confirmed. It has not changed my negative view of journalists, and their bottom line being "what will sell."
@ Weber.
I would just like to say that I LOVE celebrity gossip. I like to refer to Entertainment Tonight as 'The News' and real actual news as 'NPR'.
I seems weird, even to me, that a person as obsessed with the news (NPR) as I am would also be obsessed with Entertainment Tonight (also the news).
I always get in the longest line at the grocery store or Walmart. It gives me time to read People magazine.
I would just like to say that I LOVE celebrity gossip. I like to refer to Entertainment Tonight as 'The News' and real actual news as 'NPR'.
I seems weird, even to me, that a person as obsessed with the news (NPR) as I am would also be obsessed with Entertainment Tonight (also the news).
I always get in the longest line at the grocery store or Walmart. It gives me time to read People magazine.
I thought this book was going to be about Walls' experiences as a gossip columnist, but it was actually about the history of gossip - from newspapers to magazines to tv shows. It had some interesting tidbits, but parts of it were quite dry.
This was quite an interesting read. It was fascinating to see the history of celebrity news and how it became mainstream. It's an informative read as well with a lot of well-researched and well put together subject matter.
Jenny
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Recommended to Jenny by:
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Shelves:
non-fiction-entertainment
A real eye-opener. Fascinating to look back at celebrity "news" of the 1990's and find out how the press manipulated the stories and how (often) the subjects manipulated the press. I wish Ms. Walls would write a sequel.
Interesting history of gossip columnists & tabloid television - some new information for me... but I guess I'm too much of a culture buff to really find anything surprising here. (Not sure that's a good thing, btw.)
Fascinating look at the development of the gossip and tabloid industry in the United States....particularly poingnant given the current obsession with Britney/Lindsay/Paris.
Truly fascinating.
I also highly recommend following this with Donald Westlake's Trust Me On This, based on anecdotes from a friend's time at the Enquirer.
I also highly recommend following this with Donald Westlake's Trust Me On This, based on anecdotes from a friend's time at the Enquirer.
Sometimes celebrities want to be photographed.
Sometimes they have to be protected from themselves.
You don't have to be smart to be a P.R. genius.
Sometimes they have to be protected from themselves.
You don't have to be smart to be a P.R. genius.
I flew through this book...it is a fascinating, well-written look at the origins of gossip media and what a cut-throat industry it has become.
I enjoyed this gossipy book a lot, and learned a lot about how celebrities and the press interact - very interesting stuff.
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Jeannette Walls is a writer and journalist. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated with honors from Barnard College, the women's college affiliated with Columbia University. She published a bestselling memoir, The Glass Castle, in 2005. The book is being made into a film by Paramount.
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