Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism (Turning Points in History)

"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.