 commenting, but off the record we hinted that the talks were called off because SBC wouldn't agree to open its markets. Both versions were true, and in the all-important contest to be positioned as the company that called off the talks, AT&T took a slight lead-that was the way the New York Times head- line played it, while most other papers were more neutral.5 On the other hand, the New York Times also decided that this meant that John Walter was out of a job, quoting an unnamed AT&T board member as saying that he was in trouble. I thought I knew who the board member was. He sat on another board with Alex Mandl, and I could imagine the two of them chatting about Alex's former job at AT&T and gossiping about the current cast of characters. Mandl, in turn, knew Mark Landler, the New York Times reporter who wrote the story. Exit Walter I knew the story was accurate. In fact, I was already drafting memos recommending ways in which we could handle Walter's departure. Expect the Dumbing Down of Reality Walter had also known for several weeks that something was up. He had called me from Europe in mid-June, asking for a stronger re- sponse to a Business Week report that he was odd man out whether or not we pursued a merger with SBC. When I told him that I thought it would be a mistake to dignify such rumors by trying to get Bob Allen on the record again, Walter told me that a director had warned him that Allen had lost confidence in him and had told the board that Walter did not need to be part of the leadership following a merger with SBC. He wanted me to make it clear to Business Week, and anyone else who thought he was out of the loop, that he had been active in the SBC talks, even though he knew they could "put him in harm's way." "John," I said, "I can't say you've been active in talks we aren't acknowledging we've even had." At that point, I realized that it was past midnight in Germany, where he was calling from. "It's late. You need some rest. Don't worry about Business Week; it's only another rumor." "We need t