"Engaging and important."

American Historical Review

"As television news becomes more partisan, more emotional, and leans more toward the trivial, the blame usually falls on venal media moguls and cynical journalists. That’s the Way It Is reminds us that the structure of the competitive environment, government regulation, and most importantly the preferences of the audience have always shaped the news we see on TV. This is an important book because it reminds us that even if we don’t like the picture, we are actually looking in a mirror."

Jack Fuller, former editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune

"This is an important project. No one has written a serious history of American television news. We have some good case studies, and treatments of different moments in TV journalism, but no scholar has attempted the synthesis that Charles Ponce de Leon offers here."

James L. Baughman, University of Wisconsin

"Charles Ponce de Leon has written a brisk and informative history of television news since its inception in the late 1940s, covering the more than six decades of TV news from Douglas Edwards to Diane Sawyer, from the Camel News Caravan to Countdown with Keith Olbermann. The narrative moves quickly, yet pauses to offer extended discussions of such topics as the genesis of PBS, the establishment of CNN, the innovations of Roone Arledge at ABC, and the ways that local news helped to reshape the network evening newscasts."

Chester Pach, Ohio University