Reviews for To Be a Journalist

The average rating for To Be a Journalist based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-11-22 00:00:00 Parwinder Klair This oral history collection is perhaps even more relevant today in 2018 than it was upon publication in 2003. Reporting America at War: An Oral History lends perspective on the evolving relationship of the press and the government from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Bosnia, and into the Gulf conflicts. The discussions are of sufficient depth to reveal the nuances of that relationship. Most of the chapters are first-person recollections by all the famous reporters one would expect. The early chapters cover reporters who have died; and these chapters are recollections by their associates. I had to laugh at the quote attributed to Homer Bigart about news that his arch rival Marguerite Higgins had given birth: "Well, did she eat it?" (p. 84) Higgins, incidentally, does not come off well in this volume. Bigart, befittingly, is a star of legendary proportions. As I read a book, I typically note page numbers of juicy or inspirational quotations that I might someday wish to cite. This book nearly filled up my bookmark with references. I audibly gasped when I read David Halberstam's comment: "It's easy to find a reporter who'll do a good job. It's very hard to find a publisher who will stay the course." (p. 124) -- a comment that dovetails well with Malcolm Brown's recollection of the news president of ABC telling him that television news is entertainment, and that he "must never forget that." (p. 103) The overall comments of these journalists on the role of television is interesting and warrants consideration. More than a few seem to feel that television has, perhaps inevitably, delivered only a superficial view of war. Few conflicts are black & white; and 45-seconds of explosions and people running about are hardly conducive to conveying the great many gray subtleties of war: one person's terrorist and another person's freedom fighter; and the television footage competes with the thrills of action movies.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-07-16 00:00:00 Lauchlan Mcewan An insightful book on how the news media has covered America's involvements in the major wars and police actions of the past century. It is objective and quite well written.