The Control Room How Television Calls the Shots in Presidential Elections [Paperback]

Who will determine what Americans are thinking when they cast their votes in the year 2000?
Martin Plissner, former political director of CBS News, has played a central role in the network coverage of every presidential campaign since 1964. InThe Control Room,he shows how all the elements of our nation's greatest contest -- the primaries, the conventions, the counting of the ballots --are shaped by the networks' struggle for supremacy in today's media-intensive age. From the earliest announcements to the final swearing-in, those inside the control rooms determine what Americans care about when they enter the polling booths and whom the country ultimately sends to the Oval Office.Martin Plissneris recently retired from his position as Executive Political Director of CBS News. He lives in Washington, D.C.
CONTENTS

Introduction

1In the Beginning Was New Hampshire -- and the Networks

2From Gavel to Gavel to Ten to Eleven: (The Twilight of the Conventions)

3For Whom the Networks Call

4Masters of All They Survey

5The Less Than Great Debates

6At the End of the Day: The Evening News and Its Critics

Conclusion -- The Control Room, the Internet and the Politics of 2000

Notes

Acknowledgments

IndexWalter Cronkite (CBS)The Control Roombrought back so many memories, and revealed so much I never knew, that I have found it hard to put down. It is a fine story and invaluable history lesson. For the buffs, here is the fascinating inside story of politics and television as told by a talented researcher-reporter who observed, indeed participated in, almost every step of the mating dance. For historians, the book is an invaluable documented source on how television forever changed the very fundamentals of our election process.Diane Sawyer (ABC) Marty Plissner is a political sharpshooter -- daring, surprising, provoking sleepy journalistlã}