SPECIAL | The Rulebreaker: The new biography of legendary journalist Barbara Walters
The Excerpt
USA TODAY
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 11 April 2024
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
At age 47, Barbara Walters broke the glass ceiling for women in broadcast journalism, becoming co-anchor of a network evening news program at ABC. She would go on to land big interviews, from U.S. presidents to world leaders like Vladimir Putin and Fidel Castro but also celebrities like the singer Courtney Love and boxer Mike Tyson. Through it all, Walters brought a signature style of interviewing. Her interview subjects laughed with her and cried with her. Actor Patrick Swayze even danced with her. What drove this bold and ambitious woman? Here to talk about the incredible life and career of Barbara Walters is USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page. Susan’s new book “The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters” takes readers behind the glamour of the famous broadcaster to share the story of a woman who broke all the rules, shattered glass ceilings and gave women a permanent place on America’s news airwaves.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Wunderry Plus subscribers can listen to USA Today's The Excerpt, ad free right now. |
| 0:05.0 | Join Wunderry Plus in the Wundery app. |
| 0:08.0 | Hello and welcome to the excerpt. I'm Karen Bohan, executive editor for politics at |
| 0:18.0 | USA Today. Today is Thursday April 11, 2024. |
| 0:25.0 | At age 47, Barbara Walters broke the glass ceiling for women in broadcast journalism, |
| 0:31.0 | becoming co-anchor of a network evening news program at ABC. |
| 0:36.3 | She also negotiated a salary that broke records, $1 million a year, which was a huge sum back in 1976. She would go on to |
| 0:46.0 | land big interviews from US presidents to world leaders like Vladimir Putin and |
| 0:51.0 | Fidel Castro but also celebrities like the singer Courtney Love and boxer |
| 0:57.0 | Mike Tyson. |
| 0:58.5 | And there was her famous interview with Monica Lewinsky about the fallout from her affair with Bill Clinton. |
| 1:04.8 | Through it all, Walters brought a signature style of interviewing. |
| 1:09.0 | Her interview subjects laughed with her and cried with her. Actor Patrick Swayze even danced with her. |
| 1:16.2 | What drove this bold and ambitious woman here to talk about the incredible life and career |
| 1:22.2 | of Barbara Walters is USA Today |
| 1:25.0 | Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page. |
| 1:28.2 | Susan's new book, The Rule Breaker, The Life in Times of Barbara Walters takes readers behind the glamour of the famous broadcaster |
| 1:37.8 | to share the story of a woman who broke all the rules, shattered glass ceilings, |
| 1:43.2 | and gave women a permanent place |
| 1:45.8 | on America's news airwaves. |
| 1:48.0 | Susan, thanks for joining me. |
| 1:49.9 | Hey, Karen, it's great to be with you. |
... |
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