02 Mar Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism by Bob Edwards
I have listened to several of Edward R. Murrow’s broadcasts from London during the Blitz. You can find several on YouTube. I get chills hearing him describe the city at night whether bombs are falling or not. His word pictures of what was happening there were heard by Americans at home and helped to convince our country that Britain was in desperate need of help.
Of course everyone knows the name, Edward R. Murrow … but I really didn’t understand the profound impact he had on radio and television news broadcasts. In Bob Edward’s 2004 book, Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism I did learn about his experiences in Europe just prior to and during the war. What was just as important was what happened after the war, when Murrow and Joseph McCarthy clashed over and over again. Neither one emerged unscathed.
“Murrow’s Boys,” the reporters who worked closely with him included Eric Sevareid, Charles Collingwood, and Howard K. Smith. Edward R. Murrow’s legacy is that he was able to dominate the news in his no-holds-barred style as no one has since, with the control of ratings and profits and corporate sponsors.
I actually listened to the audiobook, every word … it was read by the author, a broadcast journalist himself, which made it even better.
Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism (Turning Points in History)
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