AIR FAIR Alice Furlaud’s Dispatches From Paris <i> by Alice Furlaud (Gibbs Smith: $9.95; 190 pp.) </i>

With the current vogue for “re-creations” of events in television newscasts, Alice Furlaud can rightly be considered a pioneer in broadcast news reporting. Incisive and witty, Paris correspondent Furlaud sprang full-blown from the heads of the staff at National Public Radio in response to their complaint that there were “far too many serious stories going on the air from abroad.” “Couldn’t we get some silly stuff from our London bureau?” asked one editor at the historic meeting where Alice was born. “No, our reporter there is all Euromissiles and Thatcher health policy,” replied another despairing editor. The intrepid crew promptly invented a dream reporter whose “live” coverage became a tradition at the bureau. The resulting radio spots, 45 of which are transcribed here complete with description of background sounds, are a hilarious spoof of standard radio fare.

The genius of these reports is their fidelity to daily life, whether the subject is Paris fashion, planned parenthood for pigeons or an interview with France’s largest producer of snail’s eggs. The details are extraordinarily accurate even when the situations are wacky, and all is delivered in a deadpan, news-reporter tone. In “La Legion d’Amour,” she uncovers the dark truth of the many couples engaged in amorous activities on the streets of Paris: They are employees of an obscure government agency (acronym COMSI), hired to perpetuate Paris’ image as “the city of lovers.”

The description of the background noises, too, pokes delightful fun at the efforts of radio journalism. The piece on the French Society for English Bulldogs opens over “a loud wuffle, snorting sound with a faint menace in it,” which fades as Furlaud begins: “This is not a maddened pig, or a fire-breathing dragon or a threshing machine. It’s a squat, bowlegged creature somewhat resembling a dog--a very ugly dog. In fact, it’s Beau, the champion English bulldog of France. . . . Can I pet him? I’m going to pet this lovely champion of France.”