Confessions from Correspondentland

July 8, 2013
With wit and wisdom, BBC correspondent Bryant shares experiences at the network over the past decade and a half. In this insightful volume, he recalls personal endeavorsâwhether as "a suits correspondent" in Washington, D.C., or among a "fraternity of boots" in Afghanistan and Pakistanâwhile commenting on the evolving nature of the news industry. Following the death of Princess Diana, for example, Bryant noticed "the first full flowering" of "the couchification or the Oprafication of news." Journalists were no longer asked to simply report the facts, they also had to take "the pulse of the public" and "(feel) their pain." Referencing the Clinton and Bush administrations, Bryant combines a unique outsider's perspective with impressive insider knowledge, describing with detached amusement the ways in which he and White House press corps colleagues approached the Monica Lewinsky scandal, labeling the 453-page Starr Report "the world's most extensively researched and expensively produced work of pornography." He tackles the Bush-Gore election debacle as well as the September 11th attacks with similar aplomb. Bryant demonstrates commendable restraint in autobiographical oversharing, and he captures the right tone and mood of some of the biggest news stories of our time.