Inside Television's First War: A Saigon Journal (Hardcover)

by Ron Steinman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Steinman went to Saigon as NBC news bureau chief in April 1966 before the significance of the Vietnam War was clearly evident. It was the first war to be reported by television at a time when there was less government--and network--interference in war reporting. It was also a time before technology enabled the fast and constant relay of images and news from around the world. Steinman recalls the struggles he and his staff of young, multinational correspondents faced: learning how to report a war from the front lines, how to get past the canned news offered by the government, and how to get undeveloped film shipped out of Saigon. He recalls the hardships of living in a war-torn nation and the friendships that helped advance news gathering and personal survival. Steinman also recalls his courtship of a young Vietnamese coworker whom he later married. This is an intense look behind the scenes at how television reported on the growing conflict in Vietnam and how those images influenced American public opinion of the war. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description
This volume recounts Ron Steinman's tenure as head of the NBC News Bureau in Saigon from April 1966 until July 1968. This was a time during the Vietnam conflict that included the major American buildup and the Tet Offensive of 1968 and saw much of America turn from support for the war to opposition. This book is a behind-the-scenes look at how the Vietnam conflict influenced young journalists, and how their coverage of the war influenced the American public. It looks at how television journalists learned to report war in a distinctly new way, through the eye of a camera on the front lines, in the countryside, in cities, towns, and villages. The experience of living-room war was new, and its effects are still being felt today. The author also reveals glimpses into his personal life, his courtship of Josephine Tu Ngoc Suong, a young Vietnamese woman who was seriously wounded and near death in 1967. After her recovery she and Steinman were married and had three children together. And he tells the story of his brother-in-law, a prisoner in a Communist re-education camp after the war, to whom he tried to smuggle money and medicine during a visit in 1985.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Missouri Press (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826214193
• ISBN-13: 978-0826214195
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,164,808 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK ABOUT REPORTING THE VIETNAM WAR, July 4, 2009

By	Patricia Gonzales (San Benito, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book for personal reasons. Searches for a certain person in my past brought up this book and I found reference to him in this book. Sadly, he is no longer alive and I can't contact him. So the book well-served its purpose for me.

The book itself is very-well written and basically is a critique of the various reporters and cameramen who covered the Vietnam war. Great insight, especially how the war was properly and improperly portrayed in our news. Brought back some memories of that time ....

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story of a world changed forever, July 28, 2006

By	Reader (Beverly Hills, CA) - See all my reviews

This is a fantasic story of survival, love and a nation changed by war. Steinman takes the reader inside the war, and, even more; inside a culture. With an intimate look at the Vietnamese people, the author touches on emotions and aspects of life in the war-torn country that have been overlooked by so many other works written about this hard time in world history. This is not so much a story about the war, as it is about the people and how the war and the coverage of that war changed everything; for Vietnam and the world. I highly recommend this book.