Diane Sawyer Provides Sigh of Relief

After Barbara Walter's scandalous and embarrassing book Audition (which would better be described as "Outrageous"), I'm sure virtually everyone who knows anyone that is a media personality is holding their breath. Walter's casually exposed relationships that she had been discreet about for decades, exposed things that she agreed to keep in confidence, and did more to damage her career in a few weeks than all her adversaries combined did over years.

Concern of other "tells too much" (more honest than "tell alls", in my opinion) have been eliminated when it comes to at least one major media personality. Diane Sawyer, a former White House aide who has dated and has known well many major characters in history would be, I'm sure, one with much to say about those individuals. She has tastefully decided to keep that information to herself according to MediaBistro and TV Week's Insider Q&A. Much of this has to do with her love of her morning show, Good Morning America. According to MediaBistro:

"She'd like to increase, "if I can, some of my specials in prime time;" and that she doesn't keep a diary, so don't look for a memoir. The Insider: Speaking of looking back, it's been a week in which Barbara Walters' memoir has made headlines screaming from every tabloid show and cover. Can you envision writing a memoir?

Ms. Sawyer: No.

The Insider: Can you envision having to promote a memoir?

Ms. Sawyer: Ummmm, no. But I don't keep a diary. I don't tend to assemble things. I also don't have Barbara's amazing history. I think she has written such a beautiful and courageous book, because she and I had a long lunch about her book and what she was doing, and I know that she did it in part because she thought, "Here all these years, people have let me into their real lives, but I can't write a book that isn't about my real life."

Sawyer has a decidedly different spin on the Walter's book, than I do, but it is clear that we can't expect a book from Sawyer. At least not any time soon. I would prefer she would argue "good taste," rather than lack of personal history, but I'm glad to see that another trash book won't be making it to market any time soon.

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Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Life for "The View" After Rosie

Rosie O'Donnell is leaving "The View" and I could not be happier. Her views are so horrible, her hate for anything US so obvious, and her behavior is so irritating. Yet, in the end, she may have been a good thing for the talk show.

Before Rosie, the show had been limping along for quite some time. Executive Producer Babara Walters dumped Star Jones because she was losing her spark and Rosie had become the new queen of controversy.

O'Donnell attacked virtually everything and everyone she could think of. US troops were described as terrorists, Bush was responsible for September 11th, Donald Trump has bad hair, etc., etc., etc. She even attacked the lovely Elisabeth Hasselbeck (photo, do you think I would have one of Rosie?) for being "too sweet" and "too Christian."

I protest the show and simply won't watch it, but it appears that many others became interested in the program and it is clear O'Donnell helped the ratings. In fact, Babara Walters is fighting off claims that the most recent battle between Hasselbeck and O'Donnell was simply for ratings. That battle stemmed from the fact that Hasselbeck rightly implied that Rosie was calling US troops terrorists.

In the end, The View was popular with Rosie, not because of her talent, but in the tradition of people who use to go and watch trains crash for entertainment. High drama, high action, but not much substance. So who will replace O'Donnell? Maybe Donald Trump will be on for a while in the name of "equal time." After all, he needs something to do since The Apprentice appears to be history.

Life may not be "too Rosie" for the view if they don't find someone to keep the viewers coming. I just hope that replacement has them watching for better reasons than a disaster in the making.