The News Sorority

In the long, exhausting march to equality, the trope about successful women is that they’re not only as qualified as their male counterparts, but better: more talented, more collegial and basically nicer human beings. That is patently untrue in The News Sorority, Sheila Weller’s dishy, bitchy biography of Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric and Christiane Amanpour. The three newswomen are portrayed as exceptional primarily for their ambition, entitlement and ability to manipulate network executives. Forget those feel-good inspirational platitudes: This book reads like the love child of Machiavelli’s The Prince and Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In.