8 Book Review “Diane Sawyer, Christiane Amanpour and Katie Couric have succeeded as [U.S.] television news broadcasters as no other women have,” writes Sheila Weller in The News Sorority: Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour — and the (Ongoing, Imperfect, Complicated) Triumph of Women in TV News (Penguin Press, $29.95), explaining why she chose to devote nearly 500 pages to telling the personal and professional stories of these three women. The book can be dishy at times (we’ll get to that later), but throughout, Weller communicates her respect for what each of these women has accomplished in the male dominated world of U.S. TV news. Sure, they were demanding and difficult at times, but who isn’t (male anchors included)? And anyway, when you’re a woman trying to break through the glass ceiling, you do what you have to do. Sawyer, the oldest of the three, is for the most part portrayed as a charming and elegant Southern woman who takes her job so seriously that she’s been known to call colleagues at one in the morning to discuss stories. Weller credits Sawyer’s workaholic tendencies and drive to her father, whom she lost to a car accident when she was in her 20s. “Diane used her intense work ethic, her charm and mystery, her witty selfdeprecation, and her staged humility to win over workplace skeptics, to neutralize colleagues’ resentment, and to endear herself to viewers,” she writes. Couric, on the other hand, is described as a tougher-than-she-looks “girl next door” type (who also happens to be chronically late and reportedly verymessy), who has suffered through several life-changing tragedies herself, including the death of both her husband and sister to cancer. “She used her innate toughness and the reliability born of her embrace of her American Girl identity to crash through impediments and to wedge herself into opportunities,” writes Weller, most significantly, perhaps, becoming anchor of CBS Evening News after a long career as a morning talk show host. Amanpour — who doesn’t seem to draw as many catty comments from former colleagues — is described as having “nervy grit,” combined with something of a moral superiority and air of entitlement from her upper class Iranian upbringing (she was once roommates with John F. Kennedy, Jr.). But overall, she comes across as a savvy, fearless on-the-ground reporter — someone with a real dedication to showing international atrocities to American audiences. Amanpour’s tragedies turned into opportunity? A forced exile from her home in Iran after the revolution as well as near-death experiences she’s had while reporting on the front. “Her resilience and savvy were honed by being an exile — an emissary from a rich, complicated, international culture …. she relished defying the rules — she was foreign, seemingly uncaring about her looks, confrontational,” Weller writes. Weller doesn’t interview the women themselves (Couric and Sawyer wouldn’t allow access, she says, and she didn’t think it would be fair to speak with Amanpour and not the others), but her sources include hundreds of others who worked closely with the women — some wellknown in their own right, like Connie Chung and Jeff Zucker — and many of whom are close to the subjects, including Amanpour’s sisters. Of about 200 interviews, only 32 insisted on anonymity, and unsurprisingly it’s the “off-the-record” quotes that are dishiest. There are somewhat salacious mentions of the women’s romantic pasts. (All three eventually married, but there were dalliances before.) And there are the less-than-stellar reports from those who’ve worked for them, like: “When Katie went to CBS staffers coined a term for a tactic that, one [co-worker] says, ‘was Katie’s forte. We called in the compli-insult. … She was mean. And nobody was safe from her zinging.’” And there’s even some drama between the women too. Weller quotes one (of course anonymous) sourcewho says Sawyer’s reaction to Couric’s CBS News gig was less than supportive. “She was completely bat-shit that Katie was the first female anchor. It will always eat away at Diane that Katie was the first.” But Weller is careful to point out how well these women fared in the face of sexism and a “deep-seated double-standard.” In one glaring example, Weller tells the story of one CBS News EVP who, just after Couric started at CBS, accidentally said over an internal audio line (that all could hear), that “the only person I’ve seen who looks worse without her makeup on is Diane Sawyer.” Weller often makes mention of how these women’s male counterparts (Dan Rather and Matt Lauer among them) could be just as difficult, but are often given an easier time while climbing the ladder. Weller uses (now somewhat disgraced) NBC anchor Brian Williams as an example of someone who may have had a less complicated climb due to his gender. “Like Katie, Brian Williams was ‘real’,” Weller writes, which is funny to read in light of Williams’ recent scandal, which involved fabricating his experiences while on assignment. Timing, in general, does not quite seem to be on Weller’s side. Though she makes a strong case for these women’s influence on news, the book came out at a strange time for all three. Sawyer had recently stepped down as anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight (replaced by David Muir); Amanpour lost her anchor position at This Week on ABC years ago and is now CNN’s chief international correspondent, with her own show on the much less prominent CNN International. Couric is off TV altogether after the cancellation of her daytime talk show, and now serves as global anchor for Yahoo. But if Weller’s depiction of these women is any indication, they’re far from done climbing the ladder and scoring the important interviews. In fact, Sawyer just recently scored a major coup with her interview with Caitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner, on her transition into a woman. “Katie Couric is the ultimate trooper,” writes Weller, describing her “everywoman’s touch, a sly wit, an appealing relish for besting those who would dismiss her.” Sawyer she credits with “circumspection, elegance and personal restraint.” AndAmanpour she describes as having “an outsider’s muckraking zeal, a fearlessness, and a passionate commitment to help America understand international pain.” “Whatever their idiosyncrasies, whatever their egos, whatever their aggressiveness and ambition, they retained an experienced kernel of humbling reality, and it controlled their choices and their consciences,” she writes. She closes her book saying, “We got from them what is underneath the news, what is underneath all news: We got humanity.” One could say the same about Weller’s book. LCB Three Women Reporting News On U.S. TV Viewed From Top To Bottom June/July 2015
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