Reporting Live by Lesley Stahl
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"So what had I learned in 20 years in Washington? I learned that it's not only 'the economy, stupid.' It's also television, stupid. Television had become the center not only of campaigning and governing but also of diplomacy and decision making. I also learned to have enormous faith in our system. Democracy works. It even intrudes on the way the media functions."

Reporting Live (1999), Lesley Stahl's memoir of her 20 years at CBS, covers all the major events of American politics. Ms. Stahl began working at CBS in 1972, as an affirmative action hire for women and minorities in broadcasting. Among her numerous top reporting positions, she served as a co-anchor of the CBS Morning News, the White House correspondent since 1978, and the moderator of Face the Nation between 1983 and 1991. She was able to watch five US presidents in action, from up close: Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush (George H.W.)

Ms. Stahl reported on the Watergate burglary, the impeachment hearings of President Nixon, the Ford presidency, the so-called "malaise" times of President Carter, the Iranian hostage crisis, and the assassination attempt on President Reagan. She reported on all the elections and major party conventions. Even if nothing else counted, the book would be a valuable refresher on the American politics in the 1970s and 1980s.

Yet, the reader will find a lot more in Ms. Stahl's book. First of all, the fascinating thread of juggling the duties of one of the top reporters and television personalities in the country and her responsibilities as a mother - the author's daughter was born in 1977 - shows her drive and extreme hard work ethic.

The mechanisms and machinations of the highest-level office politics in the leading broadcasting company of the time constitute another interesting thread. The account of the incessant jockeying for more important positions and duties among the top reporting staff at CBS might read sort of funny if not for the fact that it seemed to take away too much energy from all the people involved.

In Reporting Live the reader will also find numerous details of political events and background observations that are hard to find elsewhere. For instance the following about the tax-cut-loving President Reagan:

"Reagan went on television with a brawny statement about his commitment to cutting taxes but then signed a bill for fiscal 1983 that raised them. [...] Over the course of his presidency he would raise taxes 13 more times, but each time he convinced everyone he'd never do such a thing."

The insightful personal observations of President Carter are deeply biting, yet somehow they help humanize his image.

To me, the single most important lesson from Ms. Stahl's book are her observations about the primacy of pictures over words. She reminisces about her piece for the CBS Evening News, where she harshly criticized President Reagan's campaign. However, her critical words were accompanied by images from the President's "morning in America" campaign, designed to make the viewers "feel good: about America, about themselves, and about him." The piece was universally considered "an ad for the Reagan campaign or a very positive news story." Virtually no one noticed the strong critique. Indeed, understanding words requires a degree of intellectual effort, while pictures effortlessly evoke feelings.

In the same vein, Ms. Stahl points out how the presidential elections in the US are won and lost on likeability of the candidates and on their image rather than on issues. I love the question she once asked Jim Baker:

"'You don't think Hollywood can create a president?'"

Recommended read!

Three-and-a-half stars.


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