ABOUT AMERICA EDWARD R. MURROW

JOURNALISM AT ITS BEST TABLE OF CONTENTS

Edward R. Murrow: A Life...... 1

Freedom’s Watchdog: The Press in the U.S...... 4

Murrow: Founder of American Broadcast Journalism...... 7

Harnessing “New” Media for Quality Reporting...... 10

“See It Now”: Murrow vs. McCarthy...... 13

Murrow’s Legacy...... 16

Bibliography...... 17

Photo Credits: 12: Joe Barrentine, AP/WWP. Front cover: © CBS News Archive 13: Digital Collections and Archives, Page 1: CBS, Inc., AP/WWP. Tufts University. 2: top left & right, Digital Collections and Archives, 14: top, Time Life Pictures/Getty Images; Tufts University; bottom, AP/WWP. bot tom, AP/ W WP. 4: Louis Lanzano, AP/WWP. Back cover: Edward Murrow © 1994 United States 5: left, North Wind Picture Archives; Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. right, Tim Roske, AP/WWP. Used with Permission. 7: Digital Collections and Archives, Tufts University. 8: top left, U.S. Information Agency, AP/WWP; right, AP/WWP; bottom left, Digital Collections Executive Editor: George Clack and Archives, Tufts University. Managing Editor: Mildred Solá Neely 10: Digital Collections and Archives, Tufts Art Director/Design: Min-Chih Yao University. Contributing editors: Chris Larson, 11: left, Library of American Broadcasting, Chandley McDonald University of Maryland; right, Digital Collections Photo Research: Ann Monroe Jacobs and Archives, Tufts University. Reference Specialist: Anita N. Green EDWARD R. MURROW: A LIFE

By MARK BETKA

n a cool September evening somewhere O in America in 1940, a family gathers around a vacuum- tube radio. As someone adjusts the tuning knob, a distinct and serious voice cuts through the airwaves: “This … is London.” And so begins a riveting first- hand account of the infamous “London Blitz,” the wholesale bombing of that city by the German air force in World War II. Behind the microphone, sitting atop a London rooftop thousands of miles from the United States, sits a young journalist, Edward R. Murrow. With this and other wartime broadcasts, Murrow would spearhead the use of radio- based reporting and almost single- handedly create the concept of “broadcast journalism.” Edward R. Murrow’s reputation as one of America’s most celebrated journalists endures long after his life was ended by lung cancer at the age of 57. Murrow would bring to American radio listeners — and later television viewers — compelling stories that Edward R. Murrow broadcasts election results for CBS-TV on election would come alive through words night, November 7, 1956. Murrow, born in a family of poor farmers, rose to become one of the United States’ most famous journalists. and pictures; he would describe the horrors of war both on and off the battlefield; he would challenge From Polecat Creek to London of Friends. When he was a boy, a powerful member of the U.S. the family moved to Washington Congress in the midst of the “Red Born in 1908 in Polecat Creek, State, where he grew up and Scare” of the 1950s; and, near the North Carolina, Murrow was eventually attended Washington end of his life, he would be called raised in a family of farmers who State College, where he majored in on by the president of the United were Quakers — a Christian speech. He moved after graduation States to lead the nation’s effort to religious denomination formally in 1930 to New York City to run “tell America’s story to the world.” known as the Religious Society the national office of the National

1 “It has always seemed to me the real art in this business is not so much moving information or guidance or policy five or 10,000 miles. That is an electronic problem. The real art is to move it the last three feet in face to face conversation.” — Edward R. Murrow, ABC TV’s “Issues and Answers,” August 4, 1963

This was Murrow’s portrait as a member of the 1930 graduating class of Washington State College.

President John F. Kennedy (center) welcomes Murrow, Murrow’s son Charles Casey, and his wife, Janet, on the day the CBS broadcaster was sworn in as head of the U.S. Information Agency.

Murrow, left, won the 1956 Emmy for Best News Commentary. With him are fellow winners Nanette Fabray, Sid Caesar, and Phil Silvers. In addition to nine Emmys for his broadcasting achievements, Murrow received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964.

2 Student Federation of America. In to count them as best as I could of migrant workers in the United 1932, he became assistant director and arrived at the conclusion States. These and other programs of the Institute for International that all that was mortal of more earned him several Emmys, the Education, a nonprofit group that than 500 men and boys lay there U.S. awards for outstanding TV organized student conferences in two neat piles. achievements. around the world. He married Years later, in a talk published Janet Huntington Brewster in 1934 by Nieman Reports, Murrow’s Call to Duty: Public Diplomacy and they had one son. In 1935, the friend and producer at CBS Fred and the “Last Three Feet” Columbia Broadcasting Company W. Friendly, recalled the 24- (CBS) hired him as director of minute account from the liberated After CBS, weary of controversy, “talks and education.” Nazi camp: “Murrow … follows cancelled “See It Now,” Murrow In 1937, CBS decided to send the Third Army into Buchenwald, grew increasingly disillusioned Murrow to Europe to monitor the sees what you know was seen there, with the medium. He continued at increasing tension on the European was profoundly moved, depressed, CBS until 1961, when President continent. As war loomed, Murrow angered. His anger was his greatest John F. Kennedy appointed him saw the need to assemble a cadre weapon, but he knew how to head of the U.S. Information of qualified reporters to cover control it. … No adjectives, I don’t Agency (USIA). Since 1953, USIA, the stories as they unfolded — a think I ever heard him use an the U.S. government agency wag- group forever known as “Murrow’s adjective. People piled up like cords ing the “war of ideas” against the Boys.” When World War II broke of wood, 10 deep, and the smell. Soviet Union, had been charged out in 1939, Murrow and his “boys” Without saying that he vomited, with “telling America’s story to were ready to report on the biggest you knew that he had. … There was the world” through educational story the world had known. a quality in Murrow and intensity exchanges, books and publications, of purpose, a consciousness he was radio broadcasts through the Voice War: A First-Hand Account an American conscience.” of America, and libraries and information centers run by U.S. The broadcasts Murrow made Murrow and the Great Embassies around the world. from those rooftops in London TV Broadcasts Murrow’s goal was to make during the raging air battles would the agency more results-oriented, make his name and his voice well After the war, Murrow came back and he worked hard trying known back in America. Murrow to the United States, working with to reinvigorate USIA, secure brought journalism to new heights Friendly in his radio program, adequate funding from Congress, when he rode along with U.S. flyers “Hear It Now.” In 1954, this pro- and transform its officers on several bombing missions over gram became the TV news and into “persuaders” as well as Europe, risking his life to give public affairs program “See It Now.” disseminators of information. American listeners a better sense In one case Murrow used his Murrow’s tenure at the helm of of what the war was really like and program to highlight and dispute USIA coincided with important how U.S. soldiers were fighting it. the U.S. Air Force’s 1953 decision events of the early 1960s: Soviet But it was from the Buchenwald to dismiss from service an officer resumption of nuclear testing, concentration camp in Germany whose relatives were suspected the Cuban missile crisis, and the where he painted his darkest of sympathies to Communist Kennedy assassination. Not long picture, of the unspeakable horror ideology or organizations. The Air after Kennedy’s death, Murrow, of murder on an industrial scale: Force would eventually reverse ill following cancer surgery, left There were two rows of bodies its decision. “See It Now,” of USIA. He died in New York, on stacked up like cordwood. They course, also was the vehicle for April 27, 1965. were thin and very white. … Murrow’s greatest confrontation, Some of the bodies were terribly where he challenged Wisconsin bruised, though there seemed Senator Joseph McCarthy. (See to be little flesh to bruise. Some article on page 13.) Another Mark Betka is a staff writer in the had been shot through the Murrow program, “CBS Reports,” Bureau of International Information head, but they bled but little. All aired “Harvest of Shame,” a Programs of the U.S. Department of except two were naked. I tried report critical of the treatment State.

3 FREEDOM’S WATCHDOG: THE PRESS IN THE U.S.

By Vince Crawley

hen Edward R. Murrow, in his landmark W broadcast, highlighted notorious personal attacks by Senator Joseph McCarthy, the veteran CBS newsman was adding his own voice to two centuries of American tradition upholding freedom of the press. McCarthy’s inquiries against people suspected of being Communists or supporting Communism — called “witch hunts” by opponents — were contributing to an atmosphere of fear and to what Murrow and others felt was a serious threat Original radio scripts written by Murrow and newspaper clippings to cherished civil liberties. (See about him form part of the Edward R. Murrow Center collection article on page 13). at Tufts University.

The Precedent and the Law Protecting a Free Press of libel, and would eventually First Amendment of the U.S. become part of the foundation of Constitution (1791), elegant in The John Peter Zenger case of 1735 U.S. libel law. its simplicity, enshrined one set the precedent for American The American Revolutionary of the most basic beliefs of the press freedom as a watchdog War was triggered in no small part nation: the importance of the against oppressive government. by the Stamp Act of 1765, intended press in nurturing democratic In the case, a Colonial jury broke to tax independent newspapers government. To this day, in the with the English legal tradition, out of existence. In an era when United States and in all other which outlawed as “seditious news traveled no faster than horses free and democratic nations, libel” all published criticism of could run or ships could sail, when these convictions continue to the government — including true opinions could be broadcast only apply: a free and independent and accurate criticism — that as loud as a man could shout, press provides people with the might cause public unrest. The newspapers were the primary way information they need to play an jury decided that Zenger, a printer, for revolutionaries and royalists active role in the government and could not be guilty of sedition to get their messages to a wider life of their country, and people because his newspaper’s criticism audience. must have the freedom to speak of the British government was, in “Congress shall make no their mind and to publish criticism fact, true. This finding established law … abridging the freedom of their government. truth as a legal defense for charges of speech, or of the press.” The

4 “We proclaim ourselves — as indeed we are — the defenders of freedom abroad. …But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.” — Edward R. Murrow, CBS TV’s “See It Now,” March 9, 1954

This hand-colored half-tone depicts prominent Colonial lawyer Andrew Hamilton’s defense of printer John Peter Zenger in 1735.

In the United States, television networks owned by ABC, CBS, and NBC began regular operation in 1948. The networks controlled about 90 percent of those watching television for several decades after that, but have lost audience share to newer technologies — including the Internet — in the past 20 years.

The First Amendment itself Political Polarization, From madness” of those who criticized was the result of a lengthy Washington to Lincoln administration policies, including political debate conducted through “politicians” such as Thomas newspapers, and its authors knew “He that is not for us is against Jefferson. exactly what kind of freedom they us,” bannered the Gazette of The opposition printed lively were letting loose. The press of the United States, backing the newspapers of its own, writing their day was highly opinionated, government of the first president, that President Washington was partisan, and filled with vicious George Washington (1789-97). “reveling in neo-monarchical personal attacks. The Gazette proclaimed that its ceremony” and accusing him mission was to oppose the “raging of “incompetent soldiering,”

5 according to University of Chicago War I, the Sedition Act of 1918 Modern broadcast journalism First Amendment law professor prohibited “false, scandalous, and began in the 1920s and 1930s Geoffrey R. Stone, whose 2004 malicious writing” against the and came of age in the 1950s, book Perilous Times details the U.S. government or Congress. when television began to take history of American free speech in The act was repealed in 1921. An over from printed papers as the time of war. accompanying law, the Espionage primary source of news for most Thomas Jefferson strongly Act of 1917, remains in force Americans. Government broadcast supported press freedom, but and makes it illegal to interfere licenses at that time required fair he also had few kind words for with the armed forces or to aid and balanced reporting through the newspapers themselves and an enemy of the United States. the so-called Fairness Doctrine. repeatedly called for press reforms During World War I, the U.S. Murrow’s March 9, 1954, report and balanced reporting. “Were postmaster general interpreted on McCarthy carried such impact it left to me to decide whether the provision broadly to prohibit because it broke the standard we should have a government anti-war newspapers from being format of telling both sides of a without newspapers or newspapers delivered through the mail. story in the same broadcast and without a government,” Jefferson In 1971, during the Vietnam instead highlighted McCarthy’s once wrote, “I should not hesitate War, the U.S. government obtained tactics. McCarthy responded at a a moment to prefer the latter.” on national security grounds a later date on the Murrow program. Yet, he also said, “I deplore … federal court order to halt the Those who saw it thought he the putrid state into which our New York Times from its ongoing looked ill at ease and did not newspapers have passed and publication of the Pentagon help his cause. The broadcast the malignity, the vulgarity, and Papers. These documents, also displayed the new power of mendacious spirit of those who prepared by the Department of television. Many newspapers had write for them.” Defense, analyzed the history been reporting and questioning Decades later, political of U.S. involvement in Vietnam McCarthy’s tactics, but it was polarization during the Civil and had been classified as top Murrow’s “See It Now” March 9 War resulted in a barrage of secret. When the Washington Post broadcast that brought McCarthy’s press criticism against President then began publishing the same actions into America’s living Abraham Lincoln. In 1863, material, a judge in a different rooms. an editorial in the Chicago federal district refused to halt their “It is well to remember that Times said Union soldiers were publication. Within days the case freedom through the press is the “indignant at the imbecility that reached the Supreme Court, which thing that comes first,” Murrow has devoted them to slaughter for ruled in favor of the newspapers. told the New York Herald purposes with which they have The Court found that the First Tribune in 1958, stressing his no sympathy.” When an angry Amendment’s guarantee of free own belief in a great democratic Union general closed down the speech meant that the government institution. “Most of us probably newspaper, Lincoln ordered could not exercise “prior restraint” feel we couldn’t be free without it reopened. on the content newspapers chose newspapers, and that is the real to publish. reason we want the newspapers to The Government and the Press Today, while government be free.” officials sometimes seek to prevent U.S. law twice has sought formally sensitive information from being to limit freedom of the press. discovered by the press, there are The Sedition Act of 1798 was no legal restraints on newspapers Vince Crawley is a staff writer in the passed during the presidency of or broadcasters on national Bureau of International Information John Adams, when the nation security grounds. Foreign visitors Programs of the U.S. Department of was on the brink of war with often are surprised to discover State. France. It was aimed at opposition that more than 100 accredited newspapers but had a built- journalists freely roam the in expiration date that elapsed corridors of the Pentagon in search when Jefferson was elected of news, unescorted even in time in 1800. Passed during World of war.

6 MURROW: FOUNDER OF AMERICAN BROADCAST JOURNALISM

By Bob Edwards

n the day Ed Murrow died, Eric Sevareid (CBS O correspondent and one of “Murrow’s Boys”) eulogized his old friend and colleague on “The CBS Evening News.” Sevareid said of Murrow, “He was a shooting star and we shall not see his like again.” It was both a tribute and a safe prediction. The founder only passes by once. Murrow’s accomplishments can’t be duplicated because he was writing on a blank page. On a single day in 1938 he pioneered the overseas network reporting staff and the roundup news format while reinventing himself, transforming a junior executive into a foreign correspondent. Then in 1951, he moved television beyond its function as a headline service and established it as an original news source, not a medium that merely duplicated stories culled from newspapers. He also gave broadcast journalism a set of standards that matched those of the best newspapers in terms of what stories to cover “See It Now,” in the person of Murrow, took to the trenches in 1953 to and how to cover them. From interview U.S. Marines fighting the Korean War. two platforms of show business he carved out space for serious investigation and discussion of public affairs. Although he knew If Sevareid meant we would the embodiment of the American how to entertain, as shown by the not see the like of Murrow the Dream. Born among the hard- success of “Person to Person” (his individual, his prediction still scrabble dirt farmers of Polecat television show featuring celebrity holds. We all know people who Creek, North Carolina, and raised interviews), he was adamant about possess one or more of Murrow’s among the migrant laborers and keeping entertainment out of qualities, but no one has them lumberjacks of rural Washington, broadcast journalism. all to the degree he did. He was he never lost his working-class

7 “This is London.” — Edward R. Murrow, beginning in 1940, the opening of CBS radio broadcasts from London

“Good night, and good luck.” — Edward R. Murrow, beginning in 1940, the closing of CBS radio broadcasts from London

Murrow’s voice brought the havoc created by the German Blitz in London to American living rooms during the first stages of World War II. Here, children sit next to the remains of their home.

“This is London” circa 1940, a city under siege, and Murrow was there to chronicle its struggle against the Nazis.

Murrow reads a script during the era of the great documentaries on “See It Now” and “CBS Reports.”

8 values. Although comfortable documentary called “The Selling corrupting requirement that news in the company of janitors and of the Pentagon.” Even Murrow make money. The profession looks diplomats, he could also be shy would have had to concede so bad today, in part, because and awkward, sometimes even that Stanton was a champion of Murrow set the standard so high at with close associates. Unable to journalism that day. its birth. We see a bit of his legacy make small talk and unwilling The real reason we’ll not every time there is an important to fake it, he felt no guilt about see Murrow’s like again is that story and broadcast journalism subjecting people to long everything that allowed Murrow functions as it’s supposed to. It’s silences. He knew a wide range to be Murrow has changed important to remember that once of remarkable people, gave away dramatically. Murrow benefited upon a time we turned to radio a great deal of money, and found from being the standard to and television to entertain us and jobs for dozens of acquaintances, whom all who follow should be nothing more. If we expect the yet believed he had no real friends. compared. When you’re the “first” broadcast media to inform us, Murrow was a good manager, at something you get to write a lot educate us, and enlighten us, it’s leading by example rather than by of your own rules. … because Edward R. Murrow led us meetings and memos, and he was It’s difficult to imagine Murrow to believe that they would. a near-flawless judge of talent. lasting very long in broadcast He was smart but not brilliant, journalism today because his his mind working skillfully like programs would be required to the debater he was in college. make money. Nonbroadcasters Broadcast journalist Bob Edwards His scripts presented his case in acquired the networks in the hosts “The Bob Edwards Show” on XM an orderly, lawyerlike manner. 1980s when the FCC (Federal Satellite Radio. He was the popular Education was his first profession Communications Commission) no host of National Public Radio’s flagship and he truly was a teacher, ever longer mandated public service program, “Morning Edition,” for 25 anxious to learn something new programming. The new owners, years, beginning in its debut year of 1979. The segment above is excerpted and to pass it on in what he called principally concerned with profits with permission of the publisher John the biggest classroom in the world. and share prices, ordered the Wiley & Sons, Inc., from Edward R. He had a moral code rooted in network news divisions to be Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast populism and justice, taking the profitable. They saw no reason Journalism. Copyright ©2004 by side of the underdog and taking the why the news division should not Bob Edwards. This book is available starch out of the stuffed shirts. be a profit center, just like the at all bookstores, online booksellers Most of all, Murrow was movie studio, publishing house, and from the Wiley web site at absolutely fearless. His favorite or other properties they owned. www.wiley.com, or call 1-800-CALL- commentator, Elmer Davis, used When news has to make money, WILEY. to say, “Don’t let the b — scare the substance, character, and look you.” Nothing scared Murrow of the news changes. In the public — not bombs, dictators, generals, service era, the networks produced members of Congress, sponsors, documentaries. In the profit era, corporate executives, or Joseph documentaries have been replaced McCarthy. Murrow could not by magazine programs heavy on be muscled, bullied, bought, crime, items about celebrities, feel- corrupted, or intimidated. He good features, and the latest trendy could, however, be flawed in disease. These programs have judgment, as he was with Frank to compete with entertainment Stanton (CBS, Inc. president). It programs in prime time. The only was convenient for Murrow to way a news program can compete see Stanton as the enemy of the in prime time is to become an news. Six years after Murrow’s entertainment program. … death Stanton risked a prison The fact is that we had Murrow sentence for contempt by refusing when we needed him most to give a congressional committee — at the beginning of broadcast outtakes from a “CBS Reports” journalism, before there was a

9 HARNESSING “NEW” MEDIA FOR QUALITY REPORTING

By David Pitts

f Edward Murrow were alive today, how would I he harness the Internet to produce groundbreaking quality journalism? We cannot answer that question, but we can look to how Murrow revolutionized the new media of his time: first radio, and then television. When Murrow joined CBS in 1935, network radio news did not exist aside from wire reports read by a studio announcer and occasional event coverage. But by the end of the decade, Murrow had assembled a team of correspondents who used radio as it had never been used before to bring the dramatic events leading to war in Europe into American homes. In the words of former Former President Harry S Truman (left) talked to Murrow in 1957 CBS anchor Dan Rather, Murrow on the popular TV program “Person to Person.” and the top-notch talent he hired — known as “Murrow’s Boys” — “invented broadcast journalism.” “It not only had multiple points as the dominant medium. The catalyst that created CBS of origin, it also had included both Rather than concentrating on Radio News was the Anschluss, reporting and analysis of breaking general news coverage, however, Hitler’s annexation of Austria in news, and was both a journalistic Murrow pioneered television 1938, according to the Museum and a technological breakthrough documentaries. The programs he of Broadcast Communications. for broadcasting,” according to anchored are still remembered Murrow — along with William Bob Edwards, author of a book today for their innovation and Shirer — spearheaded the on Murrow. When World War II quality and are prominently cited “European News Roundup” erupted in Europe in 1939, Murrow in the histories of U.S. broadcast (later “World News Roundup”), provided live radio coverage from journalism. They were: a broadcast featuring CBS England of the London Blitz. His “See It Now” (1951-57). The correspondents from all over the sign-on, “This is London,” became first television news magazine. continent. Their reports were legendary. It set the standard for tackling delivered live to the audience back In the early 1950s, Murrow controversial topics in depth. Most home via short wave. moved to television, then emerging famous for the McCarthyism

10 ”Just once in a while let us exalt the importance of ideas and information.”

— Edward R. Murrow, speech to the Radio and Television News Directors Association, October 15, 1958

A scene from “Harvest of Shame,” the controversial documentary about migrant agricultural workers that the New York Times called a “muckraking masterpiece.”

A “See It Now” broadcast team followed opera singer Marian Anderson in 1957 on a three-month goodwill tour of Southeast Asia for a program narrated by Murrow.

program (see page 13), the series “Person To Person” (1953-61). was the first time that technology also dealt with other tough In this series, Murrow — in the was regularly used in this way and issues of the time, such as racial studio — visited celebrities and it captivated viewers. segregation and the link between newsmakers in their own homes “Small World” (1958-59). lung cancer and cigarettes. The through a remote hookup. The This program was truly ahead premier broadcast featured program featured guests as varied of its time: a global hookup the first, live simultaneous as movie star Marilyn Monroe, bringing together thinkers and transmission from the East and former President Harry S Truman, newsmakers from around the West coasts of the United States. and author John Steinbeck. This world in an unrehearsed discussion

11 moderated by Murrow. It was required a large audience. He reporting; his unswerving belief produced through transoceanic was always searching for new in a free press dedicated to serious phone conversations matched to techniques to grab and hold the journalism; and his belief that simultaneous filming. public’s attention. Murrow would words matter whether or not they “CBS Reports” (1960-1971 and have regarded the narrowcasting are accompanied by pictures. irregularly). Murrow pioneered the of today made possible by hard-hitting, single-subject, one- cable, satellite, the Internet, and hour documentary that became a portable devices as an immense staple of early network television. opportunity. David Pitts is a journalist who has One of his broadcasts about the Murrow’s legacy as a media written for major U.S. newspapers, plight of migrant farm workers innovator does not fully explain including the Washington Post and — “Harvest of Shame” — still his unique status in American the Christian Science Monitor. is shown today in journalism broadcast journalism. Most experts He also worked in radio news. schools as a brilliant example of stress three other qualities that investigative work on TV. still matter in media, whether As these examples indicate, old or new, print, broadcast, or Murrow was an innovator, but narrowcast — or even a blog: his he also knew he was working willingness to take a stand so in a commercial medium that long as it was grounded in solid

Students head to class at the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication, Washington State University.

12 “SEE IT NOW”: MURROW VS. MCCARTHY

By Michael Jay Friedman

dward R. Murrow may not have scored the first E blow against Joseph McCarthy, but he landed a decisive one. For that, he always will be linked inextricably with the Wisconsin senator, and remembered by Americans as a champion of liberty. Opposing Communism while maintaining fundamental political liberties posed serious challenges in Cold War America. There were Americans who were members or supporters of the Communist Party of the United States, which owed its political allegiance to the Soviet Union and not to the United States. But there were other Americans falsely charged with being Communist supporters or sympathizers, and wrongly accused of treason against the United States. The U.S. government and other institutions — from employers to universities Radio days: Murrow (center) and his CBS producer, Fred W. Friendly, right, — found it difficult at times to made the jump from radio to television and popularized the distinguish between those who news documentary format. were real threats to the nation and those who were innocent. Joseph McCarthy, the junior U.S. senator from Wisconsin, Communist ties were called before infiltration, McCarthy’s often seized upon the public mood to his subcommittee, aggressively savage efforts ruined careers launch a series of inquiries through questioned about their involvement and damaged lives. Always a public Senate committee hearings in the Communist Party, and controversial figure, McCarthy about possible Communist pressured to name Communists. enjoyed considerable popularity infiltration of prominent American While the archives of the former for a time. Eventually, though, his institutions, particularly the Soviet Union and U.S. intercepts campaign effectively discredited government, the military, and the of Soviet spy communications the anti-Communist investigations media. Individuals suspected of later proved some measure of among many Americans.

13 “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. — Edward R. Murrow, CBS TV’s “See It Now” program on Senator Joe McCarthy, March 9, 1954

Left to right: investigator Francis Carr, Senator Joseph McCarthy, and Lawyer Roy Cohn during the May 1, 1954, Army-McCarthy hearings, sparked by convoluted charges brought by the senator against the U.S. Army. Television coverage of the event helped speed McCarthy’s downfall.

Senator McCarthy points to a map headed “Communist Party organization in the USA, Feb. 9, 1950,” during testimony June 9, 1954.

14 Murrow was himself an anti- to portray the senator in an favor. By contrast, McCarthy’s Communist but a McCarthy unflattering light. Murrow feared equal-time broadcast proved skeptic. As early as 1950, Murrow that less scrupulous journalists disastrous. He was obviously observed on the air that “the might abuse these techniques, but uncomfortable in the television weight of the public testimony has he believed that McCarthy posed studio, and, as Murrow suggested, tended to show that so far, Senator an immediate threat and that the prone to flinging wild charges, McCarthy’s charges are unproven.” American people, when confronted calling Murrow “the leader of Unproven or not, those charges with the truth, would repudiate the jackal pack.” Millions of continued, and they contributed McCarthy. Americans watching at home to an atmosphere in which many Murrow’s own broadcast had seen enough. McCarthy’s feared McCarthy and his Senate featured excerpts from the political influence rapidly ebbed. investigations subcommittee. senator’s own speeches On December 2, 1954, the On March 9, 1954, Murrow, then interspersed with Murrow’s U.S. Senate formally adopted a the most respected journalist in comments, which pointed out resolution censuring — formally America, engaged in a tough contradictions and deftly turned reprimanding — McCarthy for exposé of the senator and his McCarthy’s words against him. conduct unbecoming to a senator. tactics. Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Gradually, Murrow’s fear that Columbia University Graduate McCarthy posed a real threat School of Journalism, described Michael Jay Friedman is a staff to civil liberties developed into Murrow’s demeanor as “a writer in the Bureau of International a determination to use his TV magnificent controlled fury, Information Programs of the U.S. documentary series “See It Now” handsome and composed — an Department of State. against the senator. At that time, attitude all the more effective U.S. broadcasters were covered because the public knew that he by the “Fairness Doctrine,” which could be genial and easygoing on- required broadcast licensees to camera.” Murrow’s words reflected present contentious issues in that controlled fury: an honest, equal, and balanced [T]he line between investigating manner and to afford persons and persecuting is a very fine or groups criticized during such one and the junior senator a broadcast the opportunity to from Wisconsin has stepped respond on the air. Murrow and his over it repeatedly. … We producer, Fred Friendly, prepared must remember always that a half-hour program focused only accusation is not proof and on McCarthy and his tactics. They that conviction depends upon understood that the CBS network evidence and due process would afford the senator a half- of law. We will not walk in hour of prime time — in a separate fear, one of another. We will broadcast — to rebut Murrow. not be driven by fear into an They also realized that McCarthy age of unreason. … (W)e are likely would launch a personal not descended from fearful attack on Murrow himself. men— not from men who feared Even so, Murrow understood to write, to speak, to associate, that on television a skilled and to defend causes that were, journalist and his technology- for the moment, unpopular. This savvy team of editors, writers, and is no time for men who oppose producers enjoyed real advantages. Senator McCarthy’s methods to They could select the least keep silent. … flattering video clips, juxtapose When the broadcast ended, McCarthy’s many contradictory CBS was flooded with telegrams, statements and charges, and telephone calls, and letters. generally employ their skills They ran 15 to 1 in Murrow’s

15 MURROW’S LEGACY

dward R. Murrow’s ardent belief in American democracy, his courage and perseverance in searching for and reporting the truth, and his dedication to journalism as an essential E tool in the democratic political process still are cherished and nurtured by many institutions. These values are also reflected in awards and programs that honor this great reporter throughout the United States and overseas. The following list is just a sample of Murrow’s legacy, and of the esteem that his name still has today among many.

Committee of Concerned Journalists Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists, http://www.journalism.org/who/ccj/default.asp U.S. Department of State http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/63799.htm Edward R. Murrow Award for Best TV Interpretation or Documentary on Foreign Affairs, CBS, The Edward R. Murrow Center of Public Diplomacy, Overseas Press Club of America The Fletcher School, Tufts University http://www.opcofamerica.org/opc_awards/archive/ http://fletcher.tufts.edu/murrow/index.html byaward/award_murrow.php Murrow School of Communication, Washington Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public State University Diplomacy, U.S. Department of State/The Fletcher http://murrow.wsu.edu/influence.html School http://fletcher.tufts.edu/murrow/index.html Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press http://www.rcfp.org/ Edward R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Contributions to Public Radio, Corporation for Public Broadcasting http://www.cpb.org/aboutpb/awards/murrow/ The U.S. Department of State assumes no responsibility Edward R. Murrow Awards, Radio-Television News for the content and availability of the resources from other Directors Association agencies and organizations listed above. All Internet links were active as of Spring 2006. http://www.rtnda.org/asfi/index.asp

16 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cloud, Stanley and Lynne Olson. Grossman, Lawrence K. “Murrow Wald, Malvin. “Shootout at the The Murrow Boys. Boston, MA: Said It All in 1958.” Columbia Beverly Hills Corral: Edward Houghton Mifflin Co., 1996. Journalism Review, v. 41 (May- R. Murrow versus Hollywood.” June 2002): p. 53. Journal of Popular Film and Cohen-Almagor, Raphael. The Television, v. 19, no. 3 (Fall Scope of Tolerance: Studies on Kendrick, Alexander. Prime Time: 1991): pp. 138(3). the Costs of Free Expression and The Life of Edward R. Murrow. Freedom of the Press. New York, Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1969. NY: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005. WEB SITES Lemann, Nicholas. “The Murrow DeFleur, Lois B. and Betty H. Doctrine.” The New Yorker, v. 81, Edward R. Murrow on American Winfield, eds.The Edward R. no. 44 (January 23, 2006): pp. 38- Masters, PBS Murrow Heritage: Challenge for 43. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ the Future. Ames, IO: Iowa State americanmasters/database/ University Press, 1986. Lichello, Robert. Edward R. murrow_e.html Murrow, Broadcaster of Courage. Edwards, Bob. Edward R. Murrow Charlottesville, New York, NY: Murrow on Press and the People and the Birth of Broadcast SamHar Press, 1971. http://www.wgbh.org/ Journalism. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, article?item_id=2706452 2004. Neuharth, Allen H. “The State of News Standards Today Compared Museum of Broadcast Edgerton, Gary. “The Murrow With Those in the ‘Golden Age.’ ” Communications, Legend as Metaphor: The Editor and Publisher, v. 127, no. 9 Edward R. Murrow (February 26, 1994): pp. 54(2). Creation, Appropriation, and http://www.museum.tv/archives/ Usefulness of Edward R. Murrow’s etv/M/htmlM/murrowedwar/ Persico, Joseph E. Edward R. Life Story.” Journal of American murrowedwar.htm Murrow: An American Original. Culture v. 15, no. 1 (Spring 1992): New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, pp. 75-91. Radio News: Murrow audio clips 1988. http://www.otr.com/murrow.html Fairlie, Henry. “Murrow: His Life and Times.” The New Republic, Rather, Dan. “Call It Courage; v. 195, (August 4, 1986): pp. 33(4). Act on Your Knowledge.” Vital Speeches of the Day, v. 60, no. 3 Friendly, Fred. Due to (November 15, 1993): pp. 78(4). Circumstances Beyond Our The U.S. Department of State assumes Control. New York, NY: Vintage Smith, Robert Franklin. Edward no responsibility for the content and Books, 1967. R. Murrow: The War Years. availability of the resources from other Kalamazoo, MI: New Issues Press, agencies and organizations listed 1978. above. All Internet links were active as of Spring 2006. Sperber, A.M. Murrow: His Life and Times. New York, NY: Freundlich, 1986.

17 EDWARD R. MURROW JOURNALISM AT ITS BEST

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