King : the Bullitts of Seattle and their communications empire /

Though she regularly wore prim pearls and a hat and gloves, Dorothy Stimson Bullitt was far from a typical elderly lady. When she died at age 97, Bullitt, a friend of FDR, had turned the American broadcast industry into a powerhouse. As the owner of six TV stations, she had parlayed KING broadcasting into a $400 million operation; her personal income exceeded $200 million. Corr, a reporter for the Seattle Times, traces the history of the Bullitt empire from Dorothy's purchase of its first station in 1947 to 1992, when her daughters sold off the entire company. The intervening years were filled with the turbulent machinations of big business as Dorothy (followed by her son Stimson and, later, Ancil Payne) tried to serve the public interest by providing high-quality children's programming, public affairs broadcasts, documentaries, cutting-edge editorials, and investigative reports. The company evolved into the hallmark of aggressive, award-winning journalism. This is impressive, required reading for anyone with a passion for broadcast journalism history. (Reviewed November 1, 1996)0295975571Patricia Hassler

When you think of Seattle, what come to mind may be airplanes (Boeing), coffee (Starbucks), or software (Microsoft). Now you can add broadcasting with this family saga of the Bullitts and the King Broadcasting Company. Corr, a reporter for the Seattle Times with a knack for turning a phrase, tells how Dorothy Bullitt, a woman born to privilege, became a broadcasting pioneer after the death of her husband, living to 97. He weaves together three stories: the family, the company's operations, and how both related to the civic life of Seattle. Sometimes, especially when detailing the inner workings of the news division of anchor TV station KING, there is an overload of detail. Still, Corr's book belongs in serious broadcasting and history of the Pacific Northwest collections and may also appeal to readers of another family media saga, Marie Brenner's House of Dreams: The Bingham Family of Louisville (Random, 1988). [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 0/0/00.]‘Bruce D. Rosenstein, USA Today Lib., Arlington, Va. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.