Feet to the Fire

Book excerpt: In her latest book, Kristina Borjesson once again leaves pundits, media critics, and Monday morning quarterbacks behind. Zeroing in on a stunning lineup of first-hand sources, she presents a unique and utterly fascinating record of self-examination by some of America's top working journalist. Focusing on the post 9/11 crisis period, Borjesson has interviewed ABC's Ted Koppel, Hearst Newspaper, Helen Thoms, Paul Krugman of the New York Times, Barton Gellman and Walter Pincus of the Washington Post, Associated Press President/CEO Tom Curley, Harpers publisher John MacArthur, Peter Arnett, and many others. This collection of masterful interviews unveils a journalist environment that rivals any long-running soap opera on television. Filled with astonishing personal stories, conflict, and drama, Feet to the Fire gives readers the rare opportunity to walk a mile in the shoes of this nation's most powerful journalists and news executives. Most of them have spent long stretches of their professional lives in what can only be described as pressure-cooker environments ranging from deadly war zones to high-rise corporate offices. As a serious, first-hand account of contemporary mainstream journalism, the book has no equal. Mindful of the broader historical context and the value of comparing the coverage of recent coonflicts to Vietnam War coverage, Borjesson has included long interviews with Vietnam-era reporters who are still working today, like Peter Arnett. Arnett won a Pulitzer Prize as an Associated Press reporter in Vietnam, was CNN's star war correspondent during the first Gulf War, and became a lightning rod while reporting on the second Gulf War. As an oral account of the current era of crisis, as a deeper and far more insightful view of this nation's most accomplished messengers and the landscape in which they operate, Feet to the Fire is nothing short of a tour-de-force. Interview subject include: Ted Koppel, Helen Thomas, Tom Curley (President/CEO Associated Press), Peter Arnett, Paul Krugman (New York Times), Barton Gellman and Walter Pincus (Washington Post), Deborah Amos (NPR war correspondent), Jon Alpert (independent producer/cameraman). John MacArthur, Tom Yelling (executive producer for Peter Jennings), Chris Hedges, and James Bamford (National Security reporter).