You Should Have Been Here Yesterday

The title calls one attention to the past; the effect of the book is to ponder the future. This is a book well worth reading. It gives weight to the contention that the best way to describe, or teach, history is to describe a series of incidents involving real people. Mr. Utley does that and ties the incidents together not only by personal experience, but also by two more important themes. One is the development of imagery in his craft; and the other is the incremental yet accelerating advance of technology in broadcast news.The relatively innocent images once created by the radio sound effects man have given away to powerful images that change public attitudes about fundamental questions. Films and pictures of violence over civil rights riveted the nation's attention on this issue. Films and pictures from Veit Nam, dying soldiers, fleeing refugees, immolated monks and helicopters evacuating the American Embassy, had more to do with creating fundamental changes in foreign policy and military policy than the most reasoned analyses. Mr. Utley describes the maturing of the image vividly because, in most cases, he was there.The other theme of this book is the effect of technology on broadcasting, or the news business or what ever it is we have now. There are two constants in news. One constant is the event and the other constant is the audience that wants to be informed, or in recent years, wants to observe. The personalities and institutions that inform or televise the events are transient and are largely the creatures or victims of technology. The rise and decline of national network news was much affected by both incremental developments such as the hand-held television camera, as well as step changes such as satellite hook ups. The once venerated journalists of network news are now dinosaurs. We have all of this directly from one of the dinosaurs, our author.Where is all of this technical development taking the news business? What will be the effect of the Internet, especially broadband, always-on connections? Nobody knows, but Mr. Utley has an opinion.If watching the news is a ritual or a passion, you will enjoy this book.

In 1961 when Garrick Utley graduated from Carleton College, the world was a very different place. One major change that has taken place almost without our noticing it is the difference in the way we learn about world events. Mr. Utley started in the earliest days of television news and brings us to today's instant news on CNN and even the Internet. Well worth reading.