Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow (1997) This A&E biography superbly portrays the complexities, the personal integrity, and the courage of the man who set the standard for excellence in broadcast journalism. Murrow was never trained as a journalist. The 1938 Nazi occupation of Austria occurred while Murrow was in London as chief of CBS’s modest European office. Murrow chartered a plane and made his first news broadcast from Vienna. He swiftly assembled a group of journalists to report on World War II, while he made his memorable broadcasts from London, from planes in combat, and from the Holocaust camp in Buchenwald.
He returned to post-war America as a hero and as a newscaster with a conscience. After a brief stint as a CBS vice president, he applied his talents to the radio Hear It Now, then the TV See It Now. In 1953 a showdown was impending between Murrow, ‘the most trusted man in America’ and Senator Joseph McCarthy, ‘the most feared man in America.’ At that time, it took guts to confront McCarthy. This Murrow did in two seminal broadcasts. Though emerging the victor, Murrow’s preeminence at CBS was weakened by this ordeal.
As part of his understanding with CBS chief William Paley, Murrow agreed to do the highly popular Person-to-Person show in order to continue his high cost-low audience See It Now programs. Finally, in 1958 Paley terminated See It Now. A despondent Murrow, a few months later, gave a blistering speech, to a gathering of radio and TV executives, on the lack of journalistic integrity in their industry. A year later, Murrow took a sabbatical from CBS. Soon after his return, his final program, the November 25, 1960 Harvest of Shame, exhibited the excellence and moral outrage that are Edward R. Murrow’s hallmarks. On January 27, 1961 Murrow joined the Kennedy administration as Director of the United Stated Information Agency. Cancer obliged Murrow to resign early in the Johnson administration. Murrow died in April,1965.
This documentary acknowledges that no one is a 100% hero.Edward R. Murrow (I knew him personally) comes as close to perfection in broadcast journalism as anyone we have seen or heard in America.
