The Newsmakers by Lis Wiehl Read Free Book Online

Erica.”
    â€œCongratulations on The View. I’m sure Nancy Huffman found you a nice dress.”
    Boy, there’s no privacy around this place. Two men Erica has never seen before, wearing sunglasses and dark suits, walk past her office. She gets up and closes the door.
    â€œListen, I want to find an IT expert who can explain how the Staten Island ferry’s computer systems work.”
    â€œWe’ve got one of the best in-house, Mark Benton. He’s in charge of keeping our work computers up-to-date and running smoothly. He’s on the third floor. Extension 4437.”
    Erica decides to go down to the third floor and meet Benton in person. Just as she gets up, there’s a rap on her door and—before Erica has a chance to answer—Claire Wilcox’s head pops in. “Peek-a-boo!” she chirps in a failed attempt at girlish charm. She strides into the room, slaps on a serious expression, and says, “ Good work.”
    â€œThank you.”
    â€œWe’re a team here at GNN, and when one of us does well, it reflects well on all of us.”
    Erica’s bullcrap alarm starts to sound.
    â€œYou probably know that my show is our highest rated. Which lifts us all up.” She gives Erica a meaningful glance. “I mean without a flagship show, the network would be floundering. Nylan might decide he can’t continue to bleed money and shut the whole thing down.”
    Erica doesn’t remind Claire that her ratings are far from stellar, and that Erica broke the network’s viewership records with her ferry coverage. “Your point is taken.”
    â€œGood. Then I’m sure you’ll understand why I’m taking over the Staten Island ferry story.”
    â€œYou’re what !”
    â€œI’m just much better equipped to handle it. I’ve got a staff of five, including a full-time researcher. I’m running a special segment on the tragedy on my show today. I’ve already got the footage of your interviews with the NTSB and the pilot. We’re editing you out. Scott Lansing, the nation’s top expert on boat safety, is going to be my live guest.”
    Erica thinks, This isn’t a story about boat safety. It’s about what caused the ferry’s computer system to freeze up. But she doesn’t say a peep.
    â€œAre you going to use my live footage of the crash?”
    â€œIt’s not your footage, Erica. It belongs to the network. Of course I’m going to use pieces of it. The visuals in particular are very strong.”
    â€œAnd The View ?”
    â€œI’ve spoken to Nan Sterling, the lead producer over there, and she insists that I do the show. Nan and I were at Stanford together,” Claire says, letting a little country club seep into her inflections. “But the decision was purely a professional one.”
    â€œNo doubt.”
    â€œWell. There we have it.” There’s an awkward moment. Claire looks around the office, spies Erica’s array of earrings. She reaches up and casually fingers the fat diamond stud in her right ear. “Those earrings are so darling. Target?”
    And then she’s gone, leaving behind a whiff of some perfume Erica can’t afford.
    Erica gets up, crosses the office, and shuts the door. The blood is pulsing in her temples so fast and hard she thinks she might faint. Or throw up. That witch!
    â€œI’m just much better equipped.”
    â€œIt’s not your footage, Erica.”
    â€œThe decision was purely a professional one.”
    Suddenly Erica is back in that dark-paneled freshman dining hall at Yale, afraid to open her mouth, ashamed of her broad Maine accent, slumping further and further down in her chair, hoping her classmates will forget she’s there. They even hold their knives and forks differently. Did their parents buy their social ease, their casual confidence, all the talk of horses and Vail and the school their family is funding in