EVEN THE GODS CAN'T CHANGE HISTORY

by George Seldes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 16, 1976

Some years back Seldes wrote a book called Never Tire of Protesting, a title which pretty well sums up his view of the independent journalist's duty to the public. Now in his mid-eighties, Seldes is still hammering out his highly charged prose. Here he reaches back as far as WW I to set the record straight: General Pershing never staged a triumphant entry into Saint-Mihiel; there was no ""battle,"" no ""liberation""--Seldes was there. Though conceding that news writing has vastly improved since the bad old days of the Gannetts and Hearsts, Seldes, ever the dissenter, points out that Watergate was not exposed by ""the press"" but by a handful of ""honor roll"" papers that kept digging. And why, he asks, did 93% of the mass media endorse Nixon in the first place? Those who remember In fact, Seldes' watchdog weekly, will recognize Seldes' abiding rancors: press distortions of the Spanish Civil War; the influence of the Catholic Church in general and Cardinal Spellman in particular in pressuring American news reporting and even foreign policy to the Right, the unwillingness of newspapers, before the advent of Nader, to touch the hazards of tobacco, automobiles, and drugs. His running battle with Edwin L. James, managing editor of the New York Times (1932-1951), is also included. For the generation that missed his strong, earthy voice the first time around, a loud and clear replay.

Pub Date: Nov. 16, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lyle Stuart

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1976

Categories: NONFICTION