Murrow, Edward R. (1908–1965)

Edward R. Murrow was born Egbert Roscoe Murrow near Greensboro, North Carolina. A radio and television broadcaster for CBS, he is credited with creating honest, respectable, and courageous news reporting standards in broadcast journalism. Murrow is also credited with helping to end the “Red Scare” through his See It Now reports on Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Murrow's parents moved the family to Washington State from North Carolina when Murrow was 5 years old. While attending Washington State University, Murrow served as student body president, president of the National Student Federation, and was a top cadet in the ROTC program. Murrow remained president of the National Student Federation after his graduation from WSU in 1930 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech.

From 1932 to 1935, he worked as the assistant director of the Institute of International Education and served as the assistant secretary of the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars, which helped German scholars who had been dismissed from academic positions.

In 1935, Murrow began his lifelong broadcasting career for CBS as the director of Talks and Education. About 2 years later he became the European director and was transferred to London, where he reported the beginnings of World War II and the Nazi march into Vienna, Austria. His trademark phrase, “This is London,” was heard at the beginning of each radio broadcast during World War II. Murrow provided firsthand accounts of the air raids and bomb explosions Britain experienced. Murrow's other hallmark phrase, “Good night, and good luck,” closed his broadcasts, which often included German bombing raids. The CBS offices and BBC studios from which Murrow broadcasted were bombed at least once. After the war, Murrow returned to CBS in the United States and became the vice president of News, Education, and Discussion Programs. He resigned from this position in 1947, resumed broadcasting, and became a director of CBS in 1949.

Murrow traveled to Korea to report on the war in 1950. The weekly news digest, Hear It Now, which was based on an earlier project by him and Fred Friendly called I Can Hear It Now, reported on the news of the day and how the war affected people on an individual level.

[Page 476]See It Now became a very successful news documentary program that he narrated and coproduced with Friendly. The program's popularity was attributed to exposing the audience to previously unfilmed areas. Murrow is credited with helping to stop the Red Scare by his focus on Senator McCarthy in an episode that earned him a Peabody Award. Murrow also began Person to Person, Small World, and CBS Reports.

Murrow retired from CBS in 1961 and presided over the U.S. Information Agency under President John F. Kennedy. He was forced to retire from that position in 1964 due to lung cancer. Murrow died on April 27, 1965, on his farm in New York. He is remembered as a dedicated and sincere broadcaster who inspired, communicated, and educated the world for millions of listeners and viewers. His effective style of broadcast journalism has had a profound impact on the profession. Numerous books have been written about him, and a 2005 Oscarnominated film, Good Night, and Good Luck, focused on his struggles against Senator McCarthy.

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