Murrow: His Life and Times / Edition 2

by A.M. Sperber

Overview

Murrow is the biography of America's foremost broadcast journalist, Edward R. Murrow. At twenty-nine, he was the prototype of a species new to communications-an eyewitness to history with power to reach millions. His wartime radio reports from London rooftops brought the world into American homes for the first time. His legendary television documentary See It Now exposed us to the scandals and injustices within our own country. Friend of Presidents, conscience of the people, Murrow remained an enigma-idealistic, creative, self-destructive. In this portrait, based on twelve years of research, A. M. Sperber reveals the complexity and achievements of a man whose voice, intelligence, and honesty inspired a nation during its most profound and vulnerable times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823218813
Publisher:	Fordham University Press
Publication date:	01/01/1999
Series:	Communications and Media Studies
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	795
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 8.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

A. M. Serber 1935-1994 also co-authored Bogart, with Eric Lax.

Editorial Reviews

In this superb biography, Sperber tells the story of a reporter/commentator who set standards for broadcast news integrity. Part of CBS's fledgling news operation staff, Murrow honed his journalistic skills in London prior to WW II. Before and after the US joined the world conflict, he was describing the horror of Nazism via daily live CBS radio reports—from a rooftop in London during the blitz, from a transport plane during a paratroop drop over the Low Countries, from Buchenwald. Murrow continued to establish standards of reportage with his Hear It Now (on radio), See It Now (television), and CBS Reports (a television program that such covered sensitive issues as exploitation of migrant workers). CBS eventually became intolerant of heavy-duty journalism, and Murrow left the network. He continued to be harshly critical of the soft nature of television news. In 1960, he became head of the United States Information Agency; in 1965, he died of lung cancer at the age of 57. Sperber discusses both the programs and the corporate and political pressures they brought to Murrow. Includes exhaustive and interesting photographs (badly reproduced). Joining such biographies as Alexander Kendrick's Prime Time: The Life of Edward R. Murrow (1969) and Joseph Persico's Edward R. Murrow (1988), Sperber's volume falls short only because of the author's worshipful attitude. All collections.

Choice

Sperber, a freelance journalist, offers a richly detailed life of legendary CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow (19081965), whose WW II radio reporting (``Thisis London'') and See It Now TV documentaries (including his expose on Sen. Joseph McCarthy) set the highest standards for broadcast journalism. While sometimes creaking under the weight of her exhaustive research (over 150 interviews and previously untapped CBS, BBC, U.S. and Murrow papers), Sperber's book succeeds brilliantly in illuminating crucial periods: her subject's early exposure to ideas and world affairs in his work at the Institute of International Education and in efforts on behalf of refugee German scholars; his pioneering wartime reporting with ``Murrow's Boys'' (William Shirer, Howard K. Smith, etc.); and his frustrating battles with management, sponsors and Cold War critics at CBS-TV, where his independence foundered ultimately with the rise of a large, tightly controlled news organization. Behind the handsome, chain-smoking superstar (who, ironically, was best known for his celebrity TV interviews on Person to Person, which he deemed embarrassing), Sperber finds a complex intellectual and moralist, given to dark moods, whose creative achievements occurred in a medium that never rose to his vision for it. Must reading for anyone interested in Murrow and early broadcasting. Photos. BOMC alternate. (June 12)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

An absorbing, exhaustively researched, and powerful biography. An articulate young man, Murrow had already become a leader in college. He went on to New York to direct the Institute of International Education, then joined CBS radio, where he made a name for himself broadcasting from a besieged London in World War II. At CBS television, his expose of Joseph McCarthy led to the end of the senator's power. Later an executive at CBS and then director of the U.S. Information Agency under John Kennedy, Murrow always fought relentlessly, often alone, for the free dissemination of news and information. Sperber's interviews with Murrow's family, friends, and colleagues give the book a more personal tone than Alexander Kendrick's Prime Time: the life of Edward R. Murrow (Little, 1969) or Fred Friendly's Due to Circumstances Beyond Our Control (Random, 1967). Highly recommended. Melinda Stivers Leach, Precision Editorial Svces., Wondervu, Col.

Library Journal

A biography of pioneer American broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow (1908-65) who became a prototype for the profession and remains one of the best known. He began his career with radio dispatches from London rooftops during World War II, and later shifted to television with popular news programs and documentary exposes of scandals and injustices. Freudlich Books, New York, published the 1965 edition. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews