Typed Letter Signed
1994.
Typed, signed personal letter from Barbara Walters to Washington Post columnist Tom Shales. Written on ABC News/Barbara Walters letterhead in April, 1994 regarding ABC News coverage of the funeral of Richard Nixon. In his column, Shales sharply criticized ABC's live coverage of Richard Nixon's funeral. He specifically called out Barbara Walters and her colleague Ted Koppel for "blabbing away" during solemn musical moments, noting that Walters "jabbered" about Dick and Pat Nixon's dating life while a choir sang "America the Beautiful". Walters writes to Shales "I do not mind your being critical of Ted Koppel's and my coverage of the funeral of President Nixon but, in the interest of accuracy, I do not make.. never have made.. and probably never will make $10 million a year." The $10 million annual salary for television news superstars was an industry talking point in the late 1990s. Media critics like Shales and publications such as Brill's Content frequently brought up the figure to highlight the immense power and wealth that network anchors, including Walters and figures like Ted Koppel commanded at the peak of broadcast television.
Barbara Jill Walters was an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, she appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including Today, the ABC Evening News, 20/20, and The View. Walters was a working journalist from 1951 until her retirement in 2014. Walters was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NATAS in 2000 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.
This item is from the collection of Television critic Tom Shales (1944 - 2024). Shales was an incisively funny Washington Post columnist, he earned the nickname Terrible Tom and had the clout to make or break shows. Shales won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1988. During his three-decade career those in the industry considered him both a kingmaker and a high executioner in an era when network television's hold on American culture was at it's peak. Time magazine called him "brilliant, thoughtful, incisive and screamingly funny...also, vicious, infuriating, cruel and unfair". His thrice-weekly Washington Post TV column, 'On the Air,' syndicated in 59 other newspapers. The Tom Shales collection includes letters, cards and correspondence from celebrated television and entertainment legends, newscasters and politicians, including letters from Norman Lear, David Letterman, Johnny Carson, Conan O'Brien, Garry Shandling, Fred Rogers, Carol Burnett, David Brinkley, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Edward Kennedy, Nancy Reagan and many more. Please inquire for more information.
Binding: Unbound
Language: English
Price: $300.00
Item #337375