Amanda Wakes Up

May 22, 2017
Camerota, an anchor at CNN, mines familiar territory for her entertaining debut, which chronicles how idealistic and ambitious Amanda Gallo navigates her divisive job at the ratings-hungry FAIR News network. After reporting a local story that catches the eye of network owner Benji Diggs, Amanda lands a plum job hosting a national morning show. While she buys the company line of presenting both sides of every story, she is concerned about some moves that strike her as irresponsible: giving loads of air time to unqualified presidential candidate Victor Fluke, going on air with flimsy research, and using kid gloves with viewer favorite Fluke—even ignoring a scandal that other networks have reported—to ensure his return to the show. Amanda tries to use her position for good, trying to bring people to the center for dialogue, while attempting to convince her college-professor boyfriend that conservatives aren’t all that bad. When she gets into hot water after grilling Fluke on air, she tries to redeem herself by landing a questionable interview that jeopardizes her relationship with her best friend and fellow reporter, Laurie Prodder. Camerota doesn’t have a light touch when it comes to presenting what seem like obvious points in a story that pits integrity against ratings, but everything manages to come together in a satisfying conclusion.

This is a hilarious behind-the-scenes look at broadcast reporting as told through the eyes of the ever-ambitious Amanda Gallo. Narrator Lu Hanessian makes the most of Amanda's trials and tribulations, including her limitations at a regional news station and her aspirations to become the lead anchor somewhere else. Hanessian keeps up with the many challenging elements of this story including the dense prose, continually changing scenes, and wide cast of characters. She delivers drama-packed sentences in digestible sections that make for an entertaining listening experience. Listeners will appreciate the prescient plot of an actor turned politician who becomes a regular guest on Amanda's show. M.R. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine