Truth Worth Telling: A Reporter’s Search for Meaning in the Stories of Our Times

A TV newsman confronts war, terror, economic collapse, and presidential deceit in this tumultuous memoir. Pelley, a 60 Minutes correspondent and former anchor of CBS Evening News, combines firsthand observations, interviews with newsmakers, and reported profiles to recapture the stories he covered. An opening piece on the September 11 attacks mixes his on-the-spot impressions of the collapsing World Trade Center with an intimate profile of a fire department chief coping with the disaster; a chapter on the 2008 financial crash puts him in the room as Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke struggle to bail out the economy, then probes the big banks’ mortgage frauds; and a recap of the 2016 election reviews the dissembling and derangements of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Many chapters are devoted to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: Pelley watches U.S. helicopters bombard the enemy; slogs along on counterinsurgency patrols; confronts President George W. Bush over the lies told to justify the invasion of Iraq; and examines the kidnapping and torture of prisoners by the U. S. military and CIA. Pelley’s narratives are a riveting blend of investigative reporting, color commentary, and personal reminiscence; they make a convincing case for why journalism still matters. (May)