You Should Have Been Here Yesterday: A Life in Television News

Currently with CNN's New York bureau, Utley covered international affairs for three decades for NBC, reporting from more than 70 countries, and went on to serve as ABC's chief foreign correspondent from 1993 to 1996. This low-key but engrossing memoir demonstrates not only how much he loves broadcast journalism but also reveals his passionate belief in the high standards television news owes its audience. He includes vivid descriptions of career highlights, such as his coverage of the conflict in Vietnam, when TV news first came to the fore; the 1968 Soviet invasion of Prague; the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which brought OPEC into the limelight, and a chilling account of a 1977 interview with former Nazi leader Albert Speer. Most important to the author and his readers, however, is his analysis of the changes that have occurred in TV news reporting and what lies ahead in this information age. According to Utley, there has been a sharp decline in network time allotted to coverage of international issues by foreign correspondents, which he attributes to the increasingly bottom-line mentality of the corporations that have taken over the networks, although he also cites American apathy toward foreign issues as a contributing factor. But Utley does believe that increasing globalization is motivating viewers to seek out more international coverage, and he sees the broadcast news services, in combination with electronic and digital journalism, complying. (Nov.)