Reporting America at war : an oral history / compiled by Michelle Ferrari ; with commentary by James Tobin.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ferrari, Michelle.

Tobin, James, 1956-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War--Press coverage--United States--History--20th century.

War.

War correspondents--United States--Interviews.

War correspondents.

War--Press coverage.

History.

United States.

Genre:

Interviews.

Physical Description:

viii, 241 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Hyperion, [2003]

Summary:

Thousands of Reporters have visited war zones for a few months or weeks. But some have done much more, creating a tradition, a genre, and a distinctive body of work. Now, for the first time, these pivotal figures and those who knew them tell their own stories in a book that covers all of America's major conflicts from World War II to the present. It is filled with harrowing and revealing tales about the experience of covering war.

In World War II, there are Edward R. Murrow, whose sober baritone brought the horror of the London Blitz to America with startling immediacy; Martha Gellhorn, the fiery rebel who, lacking press credentials, smuggled herself across the English Channel in a hospital ship on the day after D Day; Walter Cronkite, who worked shoulder-to-shoulder with soldiers in the foxholes and parachute jump groups; and a youthful Andy Rooney, who discarded his pacifism along the road that led to Buchenwald. And in Korea, there are Frank Gibney, who was almost killed when the South Korean Army blew up a bridge as he crossed it in his jeep; and Homer Bigart, the stuttering curmudgeon, now largely forgotten, who may have been the greatest war correspondent of all.

Here, too, are the great reporters who first detected the failure of the American mission in Vietnam -- David Halberstam, Malcolm W. Browne, and Peter Arnett -- and three astute chroniclers of Vietnam's collapse into tragedy -- Morley Safer, Ward Just, and Gloria Emerson. Finally, we read the reflections of two brilliant reporters of our most recent conflicts -- Chris Hedges of the New York Times and Christiane Amanpour of CNN. An epilogue includes important commentaries on the policy of "embedding" reporters with the fighting forces that toppled the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Personal tales intermingle with explorations of such critical issues as censorship, propaganda, press ethics, and the press's relationship with the Pentagon, both before and after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Together, they form a vivid and illuminating account that is essential reading for all who seek to understand the nature of war and how we learn about it.

Contents:

Edward R. Murrow 11

Walter Cronkite 19

Martha Gellhorn 33

Andy Rooney 51

Frank Gibney 63

Homer Bigart 73

Malcolm W. Browne 91

David Halberstam 111

Morley Safer 133

Ward Just 147

Gloria Emerson 163

Peter Arnett 173

Chris Hedges 191

Christiane Amanpour 207

Epilogue: The War in Iraq, 2003 219.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

1401300723

OCLC:

51983430