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This highly readable book provides a unique glimpse into the rough-and-tumble Chicago news business as seen through the eyes of one of its legendary players. From his first news job working as a legman for Daily News columnist Jack Mabley in the 1950s to his later role as a news anchor and political commentator at CBS-owned WBBM, Walter Jacobson battled along the front lines of an industry undergoing dramatic changes. While it is ultimately Jacobson’s story, a memoir of a long and distinguished (and sometimes highly controversial) career, it is also an insider’s account of the inner workings of Chicago television news, including the ratings games, the process of defining news and choosing stories, the media’s power and its failures, and the meddling by corporate and network executives.

As a reporter, Jacobson was regularly contentious and confrontational. He was fired on a number of occasions and was convicted of libeling tobacco company Brown and Williamson, resulting in a multimillion-dollar federal court judgment against him and CBS. Yet it was this gutsy attitude that put him at the top of the news game. With an engaging writing style, Jacobson recollects his interactions with Chicago mayors Richard J. and Richard M. Daley, Jane Byrne, Harold Washington, and Rahm Emanuel; recounts his coverage of such fascinating news stories as the violent 1968 Democratic National Convention and the execution of convicted mass murderer John Wayne Gacy; and recalls his reporting on and interviews with Louis Farrakhan, governors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich, and Barack Obama. More than a memoir, Walter’s Perspective is the extraordinary journey of one reporter whose distinctive career followed the changing face of Chicago’s local news.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Book Title
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  1. Copyright
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  1. Contents
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  1. Foreword
  2. pp. vii-ix
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  1. Preface
  2. pp. xi-xii
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xiii-xiv
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  1. 1. Once a Cubs Fan . . .
  2. pp. 1-7
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  1. 2. I’m a Legman
  2. pp. 8-16
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  1. 3. The City News Bureau, Queen Elizabeth, and Me
  2. pp. 17-27
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  1. 4. Jacobson versus Royko
  2. pp. 28-39
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  1. 5. New to TV: From JFK to Muhammad Ali
  2. pp. 40-52
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  1. 6. The First Mayor Daley
  2. pp. 53-63
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  1. 7. My Mouth Runneth Over
  2. pp. 64-70
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  1. 8. From Reporter to Commentator
  2. pp. 71-76
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  1. 9. From Commentator to . . . Anchor!
  2. pp. 77-87
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  1. 10. Heat from Jesse Jackson
  2. pp. 88-94
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  1. 11. Madame Mayor
  2. pp. 95-100
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  1. Image Plates
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  1. 12. Bill Kurtis and the Golden Age of TV News
  2. pp. 101-108
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  1. 13. Brown and Williamson versus Walter Jacobson
  2. pp. 109-116
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  1. 14. A New Mayor, a Controversial Minister, and an Old Nemesis
  2. pp. 117-1125
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  1. 15. Council Wars and Newsroom Woes
  2. pp. 126-130
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  1. 16. Another Mayor Daley and Another TV Station
  2. pp. 131-141
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  1. 17. Fox News, Mayor Daley (the second), and Barack Obama
  2. pp. 142-154
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  1. 18. Good-bye to Fox
  2. pp. 155-162
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  1. 19. The Ups and Downs of Celebrity
  2. pp. 163-167
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  1. 20. Yanked from Retirement
  2. pp. 168-171
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  1. Epilogue
  2. pp. 172-173
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 175-181
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  1. Author Biography
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  1. Back Cover
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