Quick Facts
- NAME: Edward R. Murrow
- OCCUPATION: Radio Personality, News Anchor, Journalist
- BIRTH DATE: April 25, 1908
- DEATH DATE: April 27, 1965
- EDUCATION: Washington State University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Polecat Creek (near Greensboro), North Carolina
- PLACE OF DEATH: Pawling, Dutchess County, New York
- Originally: Egbert Roscoe Murrow
- Full Name: Edward Roscoe Murrow
- AKA: Edward R. Murrow
- AKA: Egbert Murrow
- AKA: Egbert R. Murrow
- AKA: Edward Murrow
Best Known For
American radio and television news broadcaster Edward R. Murrow gave eyewitness reports of WWII for CBS and helped develop journalism for mass media.
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Edward R. Murrow - WWII Reporter
Watch a short video about Edward R. Murrow and discover what he did when he stood up to Joe McCarthy.
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Play NowEdward R. Murrow. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:56, May 22, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/edward-r-murrow-9419104.
Edward R. Murrow. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/edward-r-murrow-9419104 [Accessed 22 May 2013].
"Edward R. Murrow." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 22 2013, 02:56 http://www.biography.com/people/edward-r-murrow-9419104.
"Edward R. Murrow," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/edward-r-murrow-9419104 [accessed May 22, 2013].
"Edward R. Murrow," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/edward-r-murrow-9419104 (accessed May 22, 2013).
Edward R. Murrow [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 22] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/edward-r-murrow-9419104.
Edward R. Murrow, http://www.biography.com/people/edward-r-murrow-9419104 (last visited May 22, 2013).
Edward R. Murrow. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/edward-r-murrow-9419104. Accessed May 22, 2013.
Synopsis
Edward R. Murrow was born on April 25, 1908, in Polecat Creek (near Greensboro), North Carolina. In 1935, he became director of talks for CBS. He started news broadcasts in 1928 and continued throughout WWII. In 1951 he launched the television journalism program, See it Now, which created controversy with an exposé of Joe McCarthy. Murrow left broadcasting in 1961. He died on April 23, 1965, in Pawling, New York.
Contents
Quotes
"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty."
"We will not walk in fear of one another."
"I invite your attention to the television schedules of all networks between the hours of 8 and 11 p.m., Eastern Time. Here you will find only fleeting and spasmodic reference to the fact that this nation is in mortal danger."
"I do not advocate that we turn television into a 27-inch wailing wall, where longhairs constantly moan about the state of our culture and our defense. But I would just like to see it reflect occasionally the hard, unyielding realities of the world in which we live."
Early Life
Born Egbert Roscoe Murrow on April 25, 1908, in Polecat Creek (near Greensboro), North Carolina, Edward R. Murrow grew up in Washington state, and went on to become one of the most highly respected television and radio journalists of the 20th century. Murrow spent some of his summer breaks working on a surveying crew in the region.
At Washington State University, Murrow studied political science, speech and international relations. There, he also changed his first name to Edward. After graduating from the university in 1930, Murrow headed up the National Student Federation for two years. He changed jobs in 1930, going to work for the International Institute of Education. As an assistant director, he set up seminars and lectures here and abroad. The organization also helped bring Jewish academics from Germany to the United States.
World War II Correspondent
In 1935, Murrow was hired by CBS to serve as its director of talks. He moved to London, England, two years later to become the head of its operations in Europe. Nearly by accident, Murrow began his career in journalism. Germany invaded Austria in 1938, and he charted a plane to Vienna, Austria, where he covered the event for CBS. He soon developed a network of correspondents to help him report on the growing conflict in Europe. His team, sometimes called "Murrow's boys," included William L. Shirer and Eric Sevareid.
Murrow became a fixture on American radio during World War II. During late 1939 to early 1940, he risked life and limb to report on the bombing of London. Murrow transmitted his reports from a rooftop instead of an underground shelter and was able to make the blitz real for listeners across the pond. As poet Archibald MacLeish said, according to The New Yorker, Murrow "burned the city of London in our houses and we felt the fames that burned it." He also was the first to incorporate ambient sound into his broadcasts, allowing listeners to hear the news happening.
Murrow's coverage of the war made him an American media hero. After the war, however, he struggled to find his footing. He served as a vice president of CBS, running its public affairs office for a time. Joining forces with Fred Friendly, in the late 1940s, Murrow began a series of recordings called Here It Now, which would be later be adapted for an emerging medium called television.
Leading TV Journalist
Murrow's documentary news series, See It Now, debuted in 1951. The most famous installments of the show aired a few years later, and it best remembered for helping to stop the anticommunist persecutions led by Senator Joseph McCarthy.
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