Note: I wrote this review in 1991 just as the first invasion of Iraq got underway.There has been much discussion on the tube regarding what the proper role of the journalist should be in a major conflict such as we now have in the Persian Gulf. Several years ago I read a terrific book by Phillip Knightley The First Casualty From the Crimea to Vietnam The War Correspondent As Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker Knightley's premise, as evidenced through much documentation, dispatches and anecdotes, is that the true journalist has an obligation to be anti-war if not anti-government. Be that as it may, Knightley displays how the military have become quite adept at manipulating public opinion through the control of journalists' reporting.
Censorship is used not so much to protect the soldiers but rather the reputations of the generals and diplomats; to hide the bungling. Knightley does not discuss the impact of technology on delivery of information and the speed with which it can be delivered, surely an increasingly important factor in the equation; he speaks of it only in the context of television's greed for more and more footage of the battlefield which has increased the pressure on those in charge to release more.
If Knightley's book lacks in objectivity then a good alternative might be Persico's or Alexander Kendrick's Prime Time the Life of Edward R. Murrow
Murrow's name has become synonymous with quality, courage and integrity in broadcast journalism. One of Murrow's greatest assets was that he realized that sometimes one needed to think before filing a story.
A classic example was his story on Buchenwald. Rather than file immediately he tarried and his report lagged three days behind his fellow reporters, but Murrow's report was carried by all the major newspapers, many on the front page. The New York Times Book Review called it a classic: "one concrete image after another...living testimony not only to a stern and heroic time...taut with restrained rage." Murrow's goal was to increase the public understanding of an event, to burrow beneath the surface, question the rules, and not accept unchallenged the hypotheses delivered to reporters by the powers in charge.
Speaking of The Powers That Be, David Halberstam's book by that title (The Powers That Be) can also provide valuable insights into the machinations of the newspaper business. Basically it's a very readable history of the Los Angeles Times in all its sordid and grubby detail, although despite all the paper manages to achieve a remarkable level of praise from Halberstam whether intended or not.
