Books about Television News

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Peter C. Boyer; Who Killed CBS?: The Undoing of America's Number One News Network; St. Martin's, 1989.

Boyer's book is an interesting behind-the-scenes expose of CBS News in the 1980s, when the Walter Cronkite era came to an end and Van Gordon Sauter replaced the news division's public service ethos with a populist, purely commercial approach -- damaging CBS's reputation in the process.

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Nea Matzen, Christian Radler (editors); Die Tagesschau: Zur Geschichte einer Nachrichtensendung; UVK, 2009.

If you understand some German, this is an interesting (and easy) read about the history of ARD's Tagesschau . The topics covered include the beginnings of television journalism in Germany, the differences between the French and German approaches to TV news, the day-to-day operations of the Hamburg newsroom, Tagesschau anchors through the years, ARD's much-criticized coverage of 9/11, and so on.

Many years ago, HTV sent me this gem of a book about Bruce Hockin. It's actually a great little read and gives you a sense of the warmth of the guy as well as the reality of life in regional TV.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cue-Bruce-Britains-Television-Presenter/dp/0948265698

The Dream That Died is also a great read for nostalgia lovers. My only criticism of this particular book is that it drags on a little and starts to feel a bit like a festival of moaning about 'the good old days'. I also think it's overly critical of Charles Allan. While he did play a decisive role in creating some of the worst years of ITV, he was only one of the people responsible and became the fall guy.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Dream-That-Died-Rise/dp/1906221871

It is a good book (love the story about Mike Scott manning reception, whilst the security man went off for an ice-cream), but you are right - Fitzwater is monsterously bitter about Charles Allan, and the only reason the reader and come up with, was he wasn't a dye-in-the-wool broadcaster that liked current affairs over entertainment..like the author.

He also misses an open goal at the end of the book. He's actually got what he wanted. All the way through he thinks that Granada should have run (or had a greater say in) ITV through the 1970's and 1980's - and now as Granada effectively run the network after the merger with Carlton - they do. But, he ignores that fact.
Maybe it's because the logo of ITV isn't a huge yellow arrow topped G on a blue background..

Why do you think 'Granada effectively run the network'? I can't think of any ex-Granada executives employed at ITV, the only names I can think of left, or were pushed, years ago - many ending up at All3Media and its associated companies.

You beat me to that comment bluecortina.

Hope you haven't been waiting four months for this but... Pretty similar, because Ian Jones was a consultant for the documentary. I also happen to know they filmed an interview with him for it, but they didn't use it.

Ace book, anyway. And not just because I'm in the acknowledgements.

A few more...

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Hugh Chignell; Public Issue Radio: Talks, News, and Current Affairs in the Twentieth Century; Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

This book is about radio rather than television journalism, but it's a very interesting read. It covers the changing nature of British radio news and current affairs from the prewar "talks" on the BBC to Radio 4, the arrival of LBC and other commercial stations, Radio Five Live, and the fully competitive environment of the 1990s.

Here's a sample chapter from the publisher (in PDF format): http://www.palgrave.com/resources/sample-chapters/9780230247390_sample.pdf

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Marc Gunther: The House that Roone Built: The Inside Story of ABC News; Little, Brown, 1994.

A vividly written account of how sports producer Roone Arledge took over ABC News in the 1970s and turned it from an also-ran operation into a powerhouse of the 1980s and early 1990s.

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Benoit Lafon; Histoire de la télévision régionale: De la RTF à la 3, 1950-2012; INA Editions, 2012.

A interesting French-language history of regional programming on what is now France 3, with a special focus on regional and local news through the ages. Mostly text, but it includes some caps of news intros, local election graphics, and the like.

http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/cover1/9781405038157.jpg

"They stuffed the place up." That was the phrase Kerry Packer used in a lament shared with one of his most trusted advisers - his own succinct epitaph for the old Channel 9 spoken shortly before his death. Who "they" were and what they did to warrant their boss' stinging disapproval is precisely what this book is about. This is a book about the media like no other. How exactly do you kill a TV network that for three decades dominated the Australian television and media landscape?
http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/display_title.asp?ISBN=9781405038157&Author=Stone,%20Gerald

How come their coverage of 9/11 was criticised?

Essentially, it was a case of too little too late. ARD interrupted its programming much later than RTL, and it only broadcast updates at first, while RTL was already on top of the story. This led to an internal review of ARD's breaking news coverage.