Television's First War: Memoir of a News Bureau Chief in Saigon, 1966-69

Television correspondents brought the Vietnam War home to the USA. Their startling and horrific images conveyed the reality of war to hundreds of millions of people. The results left America in turmoil. Behind the pictures flickering on the screens lies a complex story of men and women working tirelessly at news gathering. As chief of the NBC news bureau in Saigon from 1966 to 1969, Ron Steinman has a unique perspective on the war, from the daily grind of teletype machines and equipment repair to moments of critical import and real danger. This memoir uses the framework of a 1986 return visit to Vietnam to tell the story of the news bureau and its struggles. The text also features images of the actual teletype printouts of messages sent from Saigon to New York. The memoir is a source for histories both of the war itself and journalism.