Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism (Turning Points in History, 12) - Hardcover

Edwards, Bob

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471477532 ISBN 13: 9780471477532

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004

Synopsis

"Get it, read it, and pass it on." —Bill Moyers

"Most Americans living today never heard Ed Murrow in a live broadcast. This book is for them I want them to know that broadcast journalism was established by someone with the highest standards. Tabloid crime stories, so much a part of the lust for ratings by today's news broadcasters, held no interest for Murrow. He did like Hollywood celebrities, but interviewed them for his entertainment programs; they had no place on his news programs. My book is focused on this life in journalism. I offer it in the hope that more people in and out of the news business will get to know Ed Murrow. Perhaps in time the descent from Murrow's principles can be reversed." —Bob Edwards

About this title

About the Author

BOB EDWARDS has hosted NPR’s Morning Edition, the most popular program in all broadcast media, since its premiere in November 1979. In 1999, he and the program received a prestigious Peabody Award for “two hours of daily entertainment expertly helmed by a man who embodies the essence of excellence in radio.” Also a recipient of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Edward R. Murrow Award, he is the author of Fridays with Red, which chronicled his radio friendship with legendary sportscaster Red Barber.

“Most Americans living today never heard Ed Murrow in a live broadcast. This book is for them I want them to know that broadcast journalism was established by someone with the highest standards. Tabloid crime stories, so much a part of the lust for ratings by today’s news broadcasters, held no interest for Murrow. He did like Hollywood celebrities, but interviewed them for his entertainment programs; they had no place on his news programs. My book is focused on this life in journalism. I offer it in the hope that more people in and out of the news business will get to know Ed Murrow. Perhaps in time the descent from Murrow’s principles can be reversed.”—Bob Edwards

Reviews

Edwards, who has hosted NPR's Morning Edition since 1979 (though he's just announced his retirement from that post, as of April 30 of this year), examines the charismatic career and pioneering efforts of renowned newsman Murrow for Wiley's Turning Points series. Murrow's broadcasting innovations were indeed significant turning points. Joining CBS in 1935, when radio news usually focused on such preplanned events as parades and flower shows, Murrow ran the network's European Bureau by 1937 and became a celebrity in 1940 with his stunning rooftop broadcasts of the London Blitz: "Listeners in comfortable living rooms all across the United States were hearing Britons being bombed in real time." Creating a cadre of WWII correspondents, Murrow flew on 25 combat missions, delivering dramatic reports on everything from the "orchestrated hell" of Berlin to the liberation of Buchenwald's "living dead." Mainly remembered for its famed 1954 attack on Joseph McCarthy, Morrow's groundbreaking TV show See It Now (1951â€"1958) put field producers on location, offering live remotes, split screens, original film footage and unrehearsed interviews at a time other TV news featured only a reading of headlines. Edwards delineates a brief but striking portrait of a "driven man," a fearless fighter who set such a high standard for himself and others that he became a legend, leaving a lasting impact in newsrooms even after his death in 1965. The book includes excerpts from memorable Murrow broadcasts throughout.
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Edwards, former host of NPR's Morning Edition, brings perspective and knowledge to this memoir of radio and television legend Edward R. Murrow. The author chronicles Murrow's innovations in radio and television broadcasting, including live radio reports of the war in progress in Europe in 1940; exposure of the despotism of Senator Joseph McCarthy on CBS in 1953; the powerful television documentary Harvest of Shame on the deplorable conditions of migrant workers in the U.S.; and the first in-depth television news program, See It Now. Drawing on actual broadcasts and conversations with Murrow's colleagues, including Edward Bliss Jr., who wrote for Murrow at CBS and was later the first editor of The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, Edwards brings to life the early days of radio and television and the innovations that Murrow sparked. In the afterword, Edwards analyzes the decline in broadcast news since Murrow's pioneering days. Readers interested in journalism will enjoy this slim book. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471477532
• ISBN 13: 9780471477532
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 174