Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism

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"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.This is a short popular history of how the creation of broadcast journalism, when Edward R. Murrow broadcast live from rooftops and streets of London under siege during the Battle of Britain, changed the way news was reported.Long before the era of the news anchor, the pundit, and the mini-cam, one man blazed a trail that thousands would follow. Reporting live from the streets and rooftops of London as Nazi war planes rained terror from the skies during the Battle of Britain, Edward R. Murrow brought the stark horror of war and the shock of breaking news events directly into American living rooms for the first time-and that was just the beginning. In Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism, one of America's most celebrated broadcast journalists tells the dramatic and inspiring tale of how America's first and greatest newscaster changed the way we receive, understand, and respond to the news. NPR's Morning Edition host, Bob Edwards, reveals how Murrow pioneered the concepts of radio reports from foreign correspondents, nightly news roundups, and live "you are there" broadcasts. He explains the impact of Murrow's London reports on public opinion, encouraging aid to Britain, and how the high standards that he lived by influenced an entire generation of broadcasters. This brisk and incisive account tracks Murrow's postwar career from the revolutionary television programs See It Now and Person to Person through the legendary 1953 broadcast that helped bring down the Red-baiting Senator Joseph McCarthy, to his many run-ins with his boss, CBS founder and president William Paley. Once close friends, Murrow and Paley clashed repeatedly over the now-familiar conflict between journalistic integrity and corporate profits. Murrow emerges from these pages as a complex, principled, and driven man who demanded more of himself than he could possibly deliver but, in the process, set a high standard to which those who followed him could aspire. Sadly, Edwards traces the erosion of standards in broadcast journalism since the 1980s-from infotainment magazine programs to vapid and vicious cable talk shows-which he sees as a betrayal of Murrow's legacy. At a time when the network news programs appear to be losing their audience, blanket coverage of sensational stories leaves little time for substantive news, and investigative journalism seems to be a thing of the past, Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism offers a vivid reminder of just how important, informative, and relevant the broadcast news media can and should be.The host of NPR2s Morning Edition chronicles the rise of radio and television news In this brisk and incisive account, Bob Edwards shows us how Edward R. Murrow helped establish broadcast journalism-and, in the process, reminds us how far most broadcast news has fallen from the reportorial standards set by Murrow and the people he hired at CBS. Sent to Europe in the late 1930s by CBS, Murrow pioneered the concept of radio reports by foreign correspondents, nightly roundups of European news, and, later, "you are there" reports from London during the blitz. After the war, Murrow launched See It Now, the first in-depth television news program-and helped make CBS the gold standard for television news. Edwards brings to life the great stories Murrow covered-the blitz, bombing raids over Berlin, the liberation of Buchenwald, red-baiting by Senator Joe McCarthy-as well as the ups and downs of his career at CBS. Complete with an afterword that analyzes the decline of broadcast news since the 1980s, this book will be required reading for anyone interested in twentieth-century history and the media. "It2s amazing to me that Bob Edwards, who didn2t know Murrow, knows him so well. . . I found in this book the Murrow I knew."-Daniel Schorr, Senior News Analyst, NPR "Get it, read it, and pass it on. Every aspiring broadcast journalist should have it."-Bill Moyers Bob Edwards (Arlington, VA) has been the host since 1979 of NPR2s Morning Edition, the most popular program on public radio, with 13 million listeners each week. He and his program won the prestigious Peabody Award in 1999 for "two hours of daily in-depth news and entertainment expertly helmed by a man who embodies the essence of excellence in radio"; he also won the Edward R. Murrow Award in 1984. He is the author of Fridays with Red.Host of NPR's Morning Edition and author of Fridavs with Red: A Radio Friendship, Edwards paints a colorful portrait of pioneer broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow. An idealistic educator, Murrow started reporting for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) during the late 1930s and was assigned to Europe. Along with other foreign correspondents, he established the groundbreaking concept of providing nightly news "roundups" to the listeners back home in America. Long before CNN and embedded journalists existed, Murrow was determined to let his audience experience the events of World War II as they unfolded, as when he joined the Royal Air Force on a mission to drop bombs on Berlin. By incIuding excerpts from transcripts of Murrow's reports, the author lets Murrow speak for himself, giving the reader a sense of his insightfulness and his gift for words. As Edwards emphasizes throughout the book, Murrow continued his crusade to provide quality educational material to the public even when he moved over to television. On the whole this succinct and concise biography, as part of the publisher's Tuming Points series of short works about famous people and events, offers an introduction to Murrow's fascinating career and to the history of broadcast journalism. Suitable for all libraries, especially for high school media centers. —Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Ctv. Lib. Syst. FL (Library Journal , May 1, 2004) 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 (1951-1958) put field produce rs 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. (May 7) Forecast: With more than 10 Turning Points titles now in print, readers may begin to spot this series by its distinctive, standardized cover design. This one is sure to benefit from Edwards's 14-city author tour. Other forthcoming titles in the series include Sir Martin Gilbert on D-Day. (Publishers Weekly, April 5, 2004)"Edwards delineates a brief but striking portrait of a 2driven Man2." (Publishers Weekly, April 5, 2004)In this brisk and incisive account, NPR Morning Edition host Bob Edwards shows us how Edward R. Murrow helped establish broadcast journalism-and, in the process, reminds us how far most broadcast news has fallen from the reportorial standards set by Murrow and the people he hired."In Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism, one of America's most celebrated broadcast journalists tells the dramatic and inspiring tale of how America's first and greatest newscaster changed the way we receive, understand, and respond to the news. NPR's Morning Edition host, Bob Edwards, reveals how Murrow pioneered the concepts of radio reports from foreign correspondents, nightly news roundups, and live "you are there" broadcasts. He explains the impact of Murrow's London reports on public opinion, encouraging aid to Britain, and how the high standards that he lived by influenced an entire generation of broadcasters." "This brisk and incisive account tracks Murrow's post-war career from the revolutionary television programs See It Now and Person to Person through the legendary 1953 broadcast that helped bring down the Red-baiting Senator Joseph McCarthy, to his many run-ins with his boss, CBS founder and president William Paley. Once close friends, Murrow and Paley clashed repeatedly over the now-familiar conflict between journalistic integrity and corporate profits." "Murrow emerges from these pages as a complex, principled, and driven man who demanded more of himself than he could possibly deliver but, in the process, set a high standard to which those who followed him could aspire. Sadly, Edwards traces the erosion of standards in broadcast journalism since the 1980s - from infotainment magazine programs to vapid and vicious cable talk shows - which he sees as a betrayal of Murrow's legacy." "At a time when the network news programs appear to be losing their audience, blanket coverage of sensational stories leaves little time for substantive news, and investigative journalism seems to be a thing of the past, Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism offers a vivid reminder of just how important, informative, and relevant the broadcast news media can and should be."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved“ Get it, read it, and pass it on.” — Bill Moyers P “ 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 P"Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism is lean and straightforward, yet comprehensive. It captures the talent as well as the trials and ultimate tragedy of a great journalist, a man who left his mark on the 20th Century Written by a professional who has something to say for himself." -Richard C. Hottelet "It's amazing to me that Bob Edwards, who didn't know Murrow, knows him so well. He gives you all of Murrow-the upper Murrow who could make a Nazi death camp come alive, and the lower Murrow who could do rehearsed celebrity interviews for television. I found in this book the Murrow I knew." -Daniel Schorr Senior News Analyst, NPR "Get it, read it, and pass it on. Every aspiring broadcast journalism should have it." -Bill Moyers