Noah Adams on "All Things Considered": A Radio Journal - Hardcover

The story behind National Public Radio's ``All Things Considered'' stories. Adams, longtime co-host for ``All Things Considered,'' NPR's news program, offers his journal for 1989--the year the Berlin Wall came down, Communism began crumbling in Eastern Europe, Tiananmen Square erupted, and the Ayatollah died. To provide a firsthand feel for his job, the author, who develops many NPR stories on his own, intersperses radio interviews--some previously aired, some not--with travel notes and entries from his personal diary. Adams tells us why interviews work, or don't work: Most reporters will turn off the tape recorder when the interviewee begins speaking of a ``way of life,'' he says, figuring that the person has run out of things to say and is now parroting what he or she has heard on TV. The author tells of his background--rock 'n' roll DJ; program director; sales manager-- and his worst moment in radio: While announcing for a small station, lightning struck the station's antenna, putting the broadcast off the air for an hour--and no one called up to complain. But the trouble is that even though Adams relates many interesting stories--of a schizophrenic trumpet player, of piano movers in Manhattan, etc.--his narrative is too fragmented, with a new entry, a new location, a new story every few pages. There's also too much that could have stayed in Adams's personal diary- -that he ordered a cheddar omelet, went for a two-mile run, donated books to the library, spent $16.25 on two lobsters, and so on. But when Adams bears down and develops a story, as in the pages he devotes to his stay in Romania during the political turmoil there, his writing is strong and involving. Unfocused, but still likely to appeal to ``All Things Considered'' fans. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Now in its 21st year, National Public Radio's All Things Considered covers both news and feature stories. Adams, who has been the host of the program since 1979, here examines the year from June 4, 1989, to June 4, 1990--a signal period when the news included the massacre of students in Tiananmen Square, the death of the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, the toppling of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of democracy in Eastern Europe, and the release from prison of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Adams tells how these events were covered on NPR, and explains as well who covered them, what those reporters are like and why certain news-making people were selected for in-depth profile pieces. For the program's regular listeners, the book will provide an opportunity to get better acquainted with people who are like old friends; for those unfamiliar with the show, it will prove less interesting.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.