Murrow, Edward Roscoe (R.)

(1908-1965)

   Famous radio and television broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow was born Egbert Roscoe Murrow in Greensboro, North Carolina. Murrow’s family later moved to Washington, where he attended the Washington State University. He joined the CBS network as director of talks and education in 1935 and in 1937 became director of the CBS European Bureau. It was at the bureau that Murrow began to establish his reputation for clear, accurate, on-the-spot reporting marked by a sense of integrity and social responsibility. He appointed William L. Shirer to join the bureau, and together they broadcast radio reports on events in Europe leading up to the outbreak of World War II, including the Anschluss of 1938, the Sudeten crisis, and the invasion of Poland. Murrow became famous for his reports from London during the Blitz, which began “This is London” and ended with the catch-phrase “Goodnight and good luck” that became his hallmark.

   After the war, Murrow returned to the United States, where he briefly served as vice president of CBS and director of public affairs. However, he returned to broadcasting on radio and television in 1947, and from 1950 to 1951 he hosted Hear It Now and from 1952 to 1958 the award-winning television program See It Now. In March and April 1954, Murrow was responsible for a series of programs exposing Senator Joseph McCarthy’s methods to the viewing public. Although it is not clear what effect the programs had, coupled with the televised Army-McCarthy hearings, they contributed to McCarthy’s downfall. The programs later became the subject of the Hollywood movie Good Night and Good Luck (2006). See It Now lost its advertising sponsorship and was taken off the air in 1958. In addition to programs with political content, Murrow also hosted the lighter Person to Person series of conversations with celebrities from 1953 to 1959. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed him director of the U.S. Information Agency, a position he held until 1964. Murrow was awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 and given a posthumous knighthood by the British government in 1965.