Newspaperman

Inside the News Business at The Wall Street Journal

By: Warren Phillips

Narrated by: L. J. Ganser

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

When Warren Phillips was 11 years old, his father took him on a guided tour of the New York Daily News, where he got his first look at the frenzied yet surprisingly ordered and controlled world of newspaper publishing. He saw everything from the industrial printing presses churning out newspapers at astonishing speeds to reporters hunched over their typewriters, writing the very stories those presses would be producing within hours - or even minutes. Phillips was hooked. He knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life.

Newspaperman tells the story of how an immigrant's shy son from Queens, New York, rose to the top of his industry, powered by little more than passion, brains, and hard work. Phillips began his career working as a copyboy for the New York Herald Tribune for 16 dollars a week... and ended it as publisher of The Wall Street Journal and CEO of its parent corporation, Dow Jones & Company.

The life story of Warren Phillips is the story of the American newspaper business. Here, the details of his vast experience come together to create a broad picture of the industry, revealing how news is discovered, reported, edited, published, and disseminated. Sharing vivid tales of working as a reporter around the world and describing the many colorful characters he met along the way, Phillips provides a level of insight that only a leading figure in newspapering could offer.

Newspaperman gives you an up-close look at one of the most influential people in the history of The Wall Street Journal and an unprecedented view of the business, from its rapid modernization during the post-World War II, cold war era to the early years of digital publishing and the rise of the Internet, which may mark the decline of the printed page forever. Phillips's entertaining, penetrating, and impressively detailed account is a must-listen for both devotees of America's most iconic business publication and anyone with an interest in how news is reported.

©2011 Warren Phillips (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The author includes many anecdotes culled from his diaries, some very funny, which illustrate the variegated aspects of his life and the people who shared in it.... A well-rounded autobiography about the journalism industry and the people who shaped the news over the past 50 years." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Phillips fell in love with newspapers when he was a boy. He’s still infatuated but he doesn’t skip over his tough times or mistakes. That’s what makes Newspaperman such a telling guide to the newsroom and to the top office in the executive suite." (Lou Boccardi, former president and chief executive, Associated Press; former chairman, Pulitzer Prize Board)

"This lovely book recounts the life of a wise, thoughtful, and admired newspaper editor and publisher. The tiny Wall Street Journal Warren Phillips joined grew up to be a giant. Newspaperman tells that story." (Donald E. Graham, chairman and chief executive, The Washington Post Company)