Capturing the News: Three Decades of Reporting Crisis and Conflict

(University of Missouri Press) Collings, a former Newsweek bureau chief, AP correspondent, and CNN reporter, has gathered stories about his work in a book that is both a memoir and a commentary on the current ethical crises in the news media and how to address them. Stories include details about Collings capture by AK-47-toting Syrians in Lebanon in 1981, “detainment” by the KGB in Moscow in 1967, and his role in smuggling tapes out of Poland after the Communists had imposed martial law. Collings recounts his many interviews with world figures, including Qaddafi and Arafat. He also discusses several problems he sees in current journalism, including the oversimplification of complex issues by the media. Collings teaches communication studies at the University of Michigan.