Unholy Alliances: Working the Tawana Brawley Story

Remember the Tawana Brawley case? It took over the headlines in the late 80s with a horrifying tale of racism and abuse, with accusations against influential and senior law enforcement officials. In the end, it turned out that Tawana had lied about everything-- but the damage was done. This fascinating step by step account by the reporters who did the work to get to the bottom of the tangled story Tawana spun is still riveting today-- and the exploitation of her symbolic value by Black leaders (especially Al Sharpton) and the press is reminiscent of subsequent cases (OJ's, for example) that dominated months of news coverage. Track this down: truth is always more improbable than fiction, and this book proves it.

Unholy Alliances: Working the Tawanda Brawley Story isa fascinating look at news reporting from the inside. A look at just how much a story can consume both sidesof the issue, and just how dangerous reporting that storycan be. Accusations flying, stories of what's what seeming tochange over night, witnesses recanting statements...People being accused of everything from racism tobestiality, all in the name of avoiding the real issues,the real probing questions being asked by our team.Mike and Anna have taken the time to present tous, the reader, a storyline that it is not asconvoluted to us, as I'm sure it got to them at times.Both Mike Taibbi and Anna Sims-Phillips are leaders in their respective fields!Mr. Taibbi is a highly credible, enterprise reporter whois currently with Dateline NBC and Ms. Sims-Phillipsis an outstanding TV producer currently with 20/20. Both have received numerous industry awards for theirsuperb news coverage over the years.