Off Camera: Private Thoughts Made Public

by Ted Koppel

One of America's most admired TV anchors gives us an intimate chronicle of the final year of the twentieth century. In this engrossing narrative, a national bestseller, are all the most significant matters of that year--from Bill Clinton’s impeachment to Columbine, from the war in Kosovo to Y2K and the mass-marketing of Viagra. Here are the people who made the news--from Slobodan Milosevic to Hillary Rodham Clinton to Michael Jordan to John F. Kennedy Jr. The events of 1999 anticipate so many of the on-going challenges America faces today that Koppel’s account feels entirely prescient.

Koppel's book moves on yet another level as events trigger memories of his own past, providing a more personal resonance to his telling of the history we all share. He takes us back to the England in which he lived until he was thirteen. He revisits his powerful experiences as an interviewer investigating prison abuses and probing the violence in our schools. He discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the media; he talks about racial intolerance, about brutality toward gay people, about the absence of political leadership. He also examines such cultural phenomena as our obsession with celebrity and the impact of great theater and overhyped movies.  

        Here is the voice we knew so well from  Nightline --intelligent, curious, opinionated, witty, concerned--reminding us in entertaining and thought-provoking ways that even the most public events reverberate in our private lives.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Journalism, History, Memoir, Politics

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 3, 2000

About the author

Ted Koppel, a 42-year veteran of ABC News, was anchor and managing editor of Nightline from 1980 to 2005. New York University recently named Koppel one of the top 100 American journalists of the past 100 years. He has won every significant television award, including 8 George Foster Peabody Awards, 11 Overseas Press Club Awards (one more than the previous record holder, Edward R. Murrow), 12 duPont-Columbia Awards, and 42 Emmys. Since 2005 he has served as managing editor of the Discovery Channel, as a news analyst for BBC America, as a special correspondent for Rock Center, and continues to function as commentator and nonfiction book critic at NPR. He has been a contributing columnist to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, and is the author the New York Times bestseller Off Camera.

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

In 1999, Koppel kept a diary. These are notes from each day of the year. We learn a bit about his personal background, how he reacts to the events of the day, occasional musings about this and that. It does provide a little insight into his worldview, professional ethics, that sort of thing. It also contains some interesting tales of days in the field in far off places, but overall, I found this a disappointing book. It could have been so much more. It is not a bad book, just a very limited one. But there are a fair number of quotable lines in it.

[Fran Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. Life in 1999 through the eyes of a newsman.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this audiobook in Feb. 2018, a full 18 years after it was written. It was fascinating listening to the thoughts journaled from 1999 by Ted Koppel throughout the whole year. Remembering Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky's indiscretions, the universal worry of Y2K and it's effects, the war in Bosnia, the loss of JFK Jr, his wife, and sister-in-law, as well as using a Palm Pilot and being amazed at it's capabilities was bittersweet. Realizing how naive we were as a country prior to 9/11, learning just how corrupt our government and judicial systems really are, and discovering just how much more far apart our money and class systems could be divided was sad. We have come so far in some ways, especially in technology, since this book was written, and yet, we've barely moved at all in other ways. I enjoyed this book immensely and heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys recent history.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my twenties, largely because of work, the only televised news program I regularly (and almost religiously) watched was ABC's Nightline with Ted Koppel. I felt I was getting a more in-depth accounting of the selected and important world's events and I held up Koppel as one of my favorites. Sadly, I like him a tad less after reading this, probably because he comes off more conservative and curmudgeonly that I would like to think of him. Not that there isn't value in these short pieces, especially those that give glimpses into his life and history and a little about the pursuit of good journalism. Maybe I was hearing him wrong, but there were times when he seemed almost war-hawkish. And definitely not enamored with the coming of technology (although his comments are not necessarily incorrect). They often just seemed snippy and small. And most of the stories are distant memories.

[Steven Beningo · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent look at 1999 as it impacted a very insightful newsman. It is quite interesting to recall how some events, like war in Kosovo or Y2K, were very newsworthy at the time, but are hardly ever thought about today.

[Joann Glasser · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting reading. Wish hadn't gone by month. Reminded me situations that I had forgot.back then. Some of his own thoughts I could have gone without.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back-filling this in early 2021.
Probably read it in the early 2000s.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the few audio books that my local podunk library has that isn't James Patterson or an even shittier imitation. I'm driving all over creation these days for work so I wanted something I could listen to and I do better with non-fiction and biographies when it comes to audio books.
That being said, Ted Koppel's musings on 1999 is a very random subject area for a book. It's not a bio and it's very much dating itself. That being said, it was pretty amusing. The first several months are about the Lewinsky/Clinton thing and that's still funny even now. "He offered his johnson to be serviced as a popsicle" is one of the best lines in the whole 5 hours. I also liked how much he focused on the crisis in Kosovo. Even though I was 10 when all this happened, I've obviously heard tons about the Clinton debacle, but I was way too young to understand what was going on in Kosovo and I picked up a lot of Koppel's coverage. I also like how much he stressed our need for knowledge of international news even though most Americans would rather ignore the entire genre. I was surprised that Columbine barely got a brief mention.
I think what made this otherwise super boring narration tolerable was the spin that Koppel's personality put on things. He interspersed his reactions to major news events with different things going on in his personal life and every now and then threw in some profound idea that I really had to stop and think about. There were a couple times where I paused it and just thought about what he said for a good 10-15 minutes before starting back again. I especially enjoyed his analyses of the fate and future of broadcast journalism. It made me think a bit more about why the news chooses the stories it does instead of just half heartedly listening to the evening news and assuming I've now been caught up in terms of the events of the world.

[Nicole Marble · Rating 3 out of 5]

The brilliant and knowledgable host of ABC's 'Nightline' reviews the year 1999. It seems antique at first, a thousand years ago - Kenneth Starr, Monica Lewinsky, Anadu Dialo, Kosovo, NATO, Comumbine, Y2K and Elian Gonzales. But Ted warns repeatedly against terrorist attacks. It makes him seems prescient. Ted is a skilled, if grumpy, observer.

[Jennifer Robb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basically a series of journal entries written by Koppel from 1999-2000. They may have had more relevance at the time the book was published but reading them so far after the fact, I didn't find them compelling or interesting.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know a lot about Ted when I picked up the book from my partner's shelves. It was fairly engrossing, especially his writings from overseas assignments.

[kazure007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another 'discarded' library book. I'm always interested in people and their stories. I am looking foward to this one. At 25cents for a hardcover copy, how could it not be at least worth that?

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read with interesting perspectives on 1999. No joy in recalling Clinton's last year or Bosnia but some interesting insights into Koppel and enough doses of common sense to keep me reading.

[Rose]

B Kop

[Conrad Haas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, recalling what when on during the times we lived. Some we know about and some we did not.

[Jack Coleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memiors of an ABC news acnchor leading up to the year 2000.
He reads Robertson Davies so he can't be all that bad.
Picked it up at the library book sale.

[Ashley]

#
NC
Own in hardback.

FS: "Hope and foreboding. Not necessarily in equal measure, either."

LS: "Foreboding and hope, then."

[Gerry Durisin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one started off interesting, but became monotonously repetitive as time went on. After a while, Koppel’s commentary seemed to lose its luster, and I found myself responding “Who cares?”

[Warren Bunting · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent walk through the year, 1999, by a keen and prominent observer.
Candid thoughts on the state of the world, the nation, and American culture.
A very compelling read.