Edward R. Murrow

[Phantom]

'Edward R. Murrow'

In "The Edward R. Murrow Collection," an earnest recap of an earnest career, Murrow first becomes a household name by chronicling London air raids as if they were stanzas in an epic poem. (Antiaircraft fire in the night sky looks like white rice spilling on black velvet, he intoned over the radio.)

When his favored medium faltered, Murrow was dragged into the new world of television, and the camera loved him more than he loved it. This four-disc set depicts the newsman's struggle to come to terms with reporting via what was then called "a 1,000-pound pencil." As he ages, Murrow comes off as a journalistic warhorse who does a lot of kicking when confined to a stable, and the CBS founder William S. Paley turns from protector to nemesis. (You're supposed to side with Murrow, but I somehow didn't.)

The discs also show Murrow pioneering chatty celebrity-at-home segments and preachy tales of migrant laborers. Among many solemn paeans, you'll see Diane Sawyer in 1980's sherbet frocks and David Brinkley looking older than his years, no matter the decade. Leave it to Murrow's ambitious protégé, Eric Sevareid, to interrupt this media seminar with some real news. Murrow, he confides, had a few human failings: vanity, sanctimony, smoking.

 

[edwardrmurrow]

> 'Edward R. Murrow'
>
> In "The Edward R. Murrow Collection," an earnest recap of an
> earnest career, Murrow first becomes a household name by
> chronicling London air raids as if they were stanzas in an
> epic poem. (Antiaircraft fire in the night sky looks like
> white rice spilling on black velvet, he intoned over the
> radio.)
>
> When his favored medium faltered, Murrow was dragged into
> the new world of television, and the camera loved him more
> than he loved it. This four-disc set depicts the newsman's
> struggle to come to terms with reporting via what was then
> called "a 1,000-pound pencil." As he ages, Murrow comes off
> as a journalistic warhorse who does a lot of kicking when
> confined to a stable, and the CBS founder William S. Paley
> turns from protector to nemesis. (You're supposed to side
> with Murrow, but I somehow didn't.)
>
> The discs also show Murrow pioneering chatty
> celebrity-at-home segments and preachy tales of migrant
> laborers. Among many solemn paeans, you'll see Diane Sawyer
> in 1980's sherbet frocks and David Brinkley looking older
> than his years, no matter the decade. Leave it to Murrow's
> ambitious protégé, Eric Sevareid, to interrupt this media
> seminar with some real news. Murrow, he confides, had a few
> human failings: vanity, sanctimony, smoking.
>


Let us also add that he stood up to Sen.Joe McCarthy when nobody else would,and a young reporter named Walter Cronkhite never liked him,but respected him. Charles Collingwood,Robert Pierpoint, Richard C.Hottlet,Howard K.Smith, and William L.Shirer all said that he was a "reporter" who openly reported and discussed both sides of an issue fairly and equally" He was a radio reporter and
like a famed comedian at the time Fred Allen he "disdained"televison.He did produce and filmed a great documentary in 1960 called "Harvest of Shame" about the plight of migrant farm workers. When William S. Paley no longer felt a need to maintain his services,Pres. Kennedy appointed him as Director of The Voice of America".It should also be noted that The British Broadcasting Corporation asked him after the war to help develop it's news operation. He was under contract to CBS,but Paley allowed him to assist the BBC for a few years.They still use his principles he outlined. Murrow did not particulary liked doing "Person to Person"but celebrity interview shows were popular then and he was asked by CBS's #2 man Dr.Frank Stanton to please do it.
Murrow died in 1965 due to lung cancer and smoked 2-3 packs of cigarettes a day for most of his life. "Clearing the Air"-Daniel Schorr," Over there"-Charles Collingwood""Murrow" by Edward R.Murrow,"Howard K.Smith: My Journal"-Howard K.Smith are the sources.