Current Affairs

From 1984 to 1989 Povich hosted a syndicated television program, A Current Affair , under the aegis of Rupert Murdoch and the Fox network. With an assist from People magazine staff writer Gross, he here retraces the story of his life with a concentration on the show. Since Povich's top associates were Australians, trained in the tradition of ``killer journalism,'' the account of their joint venture is wild and wooly. Much of the news the show covered was overdramatized with hype, yet Povich fails to discern the dross: the tale of surrogate mother Mary Beth Whitehead, for instance, is described as ``like the Scopes trial and the Lindbergh kidnapping all rolled into one,'' and the bedroom escapades of film star Rob Lowe are presented as genuinely significant. Povich rarely rises above the pedestrian in this book, although that may be an advantage in videoland. (Apr.)