Reporting America at War: An Oral History [Hardcover]

Michelle Ferrari (Author), James Tobin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1401300723 | ISBN-13: 978-1401300722 | Publication Date: October 8, 2003 | Edition: 1

hether dodging sniper fire, accompanying strategic bombing raids over enemy territory, challenging the Pentagon's version of events, or crossing the frontlines to interview figures at the heart of the conflict, war correspondents have served as the eyes and ears of the nation, conveying the facts, the brutality and the drama of warfare, and shaping public opinion in the process. Now for the first time, in Reporting America at War, the nation's most respected reporters share their stories to create a fascinating oral history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Beginning with Edward R. Murrow's live reports during the London blitz and ending with an epilogue on the second war in Iraq, this oral history contains transcripts of interviews with 11 top correspondents. Murrow is one of three deceased reporters included (the others are Martha Gellhorn and Homer Bigart), along with Walter Cronkite, Andy Rooney, Frank Gibney, Malcolm Browne, David Halberstam, Morley Safer, Ward Just, Gloria Emerson, Chris Hedges and Christiane Amanpour. Compared with correspondents who covered WWII and Korea, today's journalists tend to have more campaign ribbons. The New York Times's Hedges, for example, has covered Central America, the Middle East and the Balkans; Amanpour has reported for CNN from the Persian Gulf, Yugoslavia, Somalia and Afghanistan. The correspondents who were in Vietnam-including Homer Bigart and Gloria Emerson-opine on the official disinformation campaign and the corruption of the Saigon regime, while Amanpour, who covered a different kind of war in Somalia, speaks of the impact of the repeated showing of footage of an American soldier's body being dragged through Mogadishu, which she says caused the Clinton administration to curtail the U.S.'s mission there. Tobin's introductions and transitional and informational interpolations within the transcripts hold this informative volume together. Just sums up the book's importance: "As long as there are wars, it is very important to know, in the details, how they are being fought [and] to know the manner in which people are dying.... If someone isn't there to report it, it's just a tree crashing in the forest with nobody to hear it." Photos.-- to know the manner in which people are dying.... If someone isn't there to report it, it's just a tree crashing in the forest with nobody to hear it." Photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Eleven outstanding war correspondents reminiscence and comment on the profession in oral history style, thanks to Ferrari and Tobin's editing. The 11 range from long-gone Edward R. Murrow to several who covered both recent wars in Iraq; furthermore, the epilogue extends some contributors' vitae to include events earlier this year. Depending on one's perspective, there are several hackle-raisers among the 11, and yet Gloria Emerson, Walter Cronkite, and Ward Just present their views and life stories with integrity and substantial knowledge of war and the military. On the other hand, the recently controversial Peter Arnett and Chris Hedges go on about the political circumstances of their work in ways that some readers may think of as living down to their reputations. All 11 do, however, provide valuable testimony on the sheer physical difficulties the war reporter must endure, difficulties that, during the Iraq wars, have only worsened because of the premium satellite-transmission reporting puts on getting anything, even the most random fragments, on the air. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1 edition (October 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401300723
• ISBN-13: 978-1401300722
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,565,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Journalistic Giants Speak Their Mind, December 8, 2003

By 

C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reporting America at War: An Oral History (Hardcover)

Reporters who have covered wars from World War II up to the present war with Iraq and everything in between provide us with their views of the freedom or lack of same they have had in carrying out their journalistic duties. Walter Cronkite, Andy Rooney, David Halberstam, Morley Safer, Peter Arnett, Christiane Amanpour, among others give us their insight into the freedom or lack of freedom they have had in seeing to it the public's freedom to know what is taking place in the war zone. The bottom line regarding the book is "the First Amendment was written to protect the press not for its own good, but for the good of the public,"...and "if we choose not to care about the world until the world comes crashing through our door, then we will not get it. Not at all, or only when it's too late." The attacks on 9-11 should emphasize to Americans the importance of knowing what is going on beyond the shores of the United States. Since Vietnam Americans have distrusted the government's view of how wars are progressing, and should insist that reporters have access to provide them with information to keep them informed. The individuals in the book are giants in their trade, and their opinions are as relevent today as they always have been.