How Edward R. Murrow Personified True Journalism
Five things about journalism that I learnt from the master of war broadcast journalism
Network radio news truly came of age during World War II.
It was used to propaganda to sway perspectives, yes. But it also became a powerful medium for broadcasting multiple realities on the ground.
It pushed boundaries of thought and presentation.
Edward R. Murrow — World War II Correspondent to Journalism for the Masses
Born Egbert Roscoe Murrow on April 25, 1908, in Polecat Creek (near Greensboro), North Carolina.
In 1935, Murrow was hired by CBS for a public relations job. Two years later in 1937, he was asked to go to London to take up the post of chief CBS radio correspondent in Europe. He was 29-years young and never wrote a news article in his life. He sailed with his wife, Janet, to London.
But Murrow assembled a team of radio reporters in Europe that brought World War II into the parlors of America and set the gold standard for all broadcast news to this day.
Veteran journalist and television host Edward R. Murrow looked serious and composed. It was March 9, 1954. The Cold War was at its height, and Americans were concerned about communist influences at home and abroad.
The American broadcast journalist gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe for the news division of CBS.
In 1951 he launched the television journalism program, See it Now, which created controversy with an exposé of Joesph McCarthy. Murrow left broadcasting in 1961, one of the most highly respected television and radio journalists of the 20th century.
Real Journalism Dares Tackle All Sides
On the day Murrow was born, Mercury (representing communications) and Mars (planet of war) were in “mutual reception”, or in each other’s home planets. They strengthen and enhance each other.
They flow together even if they’re not in aspect (no angles with each other). Compatriots. Friends. A two-fer energy.
Mercury is how you talk.
In fiery Aries, the first sign of the entire zodiac, you think and talk in sharp, direct, brusque ways. You treat ideas like a battle of wits.
Murrow became rcognised for his clipped baritone voice.
Mars is what gets you going.
In airy Gemini, you’re taken up by ideas and information, facts and figures. Air signs offer quippy wit at their best.
You cannot get more literal than how Murrow lived it.
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”― Edward R. Murrow, In Search Of Light: The Broadcasts Of Edward R. Morrow, 1938–1961
Here are three ways Murrow displayed Mercury-Mars energy:
Murrow pioneered radio and television news broadcasting
Aries is the first sign of the zodiac. It’s the quintessential spark of life and does not shy from being first.
On March 9, 1954, Murrow produced a series of reports on his television program See It Now. It helped lead to the censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Here’s how the episode started:
“Because a report on Senator McCarthy is by definition controversial we want to say exactly what we mean to say and I request your permission to read from the script whatever remarks Murrow and Friendly may make (…)
And how it ended:
“The actions of the junior senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn’t create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it — and rather successfully. Cassius was right. ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves.’ Good night and good luck.” — Edward Murrow
2. Murrow wasn’t afraid to get raw.
Aries like it in the raw, straightforward and without embellishment.
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.
When television was in its infancy, Murrow brought hard-hitting investigating reporting to prime time. Apparently, his show producers would wince and try to dial it down.
“When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained.” ― Edward R. Murrow
3. Murrow kept words curt.
Aries is short, but it’s not always sweet.
Murrow’s reports, especially during the Blitz, began with what became his signature opening, “This is London,” delivered with his vocal emphasis on the word this, followed by the hint of a pause before the rest of the phrase.
His former speech teacher, Ida Lou Anderson, suggested the opening as a more concise alternative to the one he had inherited from his predecessor at CBS Europe, César Saerchinger: “Hello, America. This is London calling.”
Murrow is not only curt in tone. He asserts that brevity means sticking with the facts and the truth.
“We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late. ” ― Edward R. Murrow
“To be persuasive, We must be believable; To be believable, We must be credible; To be credible, We must be truthful.” ― Edward R. Murrow
3. Murrow trained in speech.
Although I write about his latent gift for speech and concise delivery. Murrow didn’t coast. He went to work on it.
Murrow’s skill at improvising vivid descriptions of what was going on around or below him, derived in part from his college training in speech, aided the effectiveness of his radio broadcasts.
4. Murrow was open to a new medium.
Although TV screen images were not to be his forte, Murrow gave it a go. Murrow began his television career by appearing in editorial “tailpieces” on the CBS Evening News and in the coverage of special events. This came despite his own misgivings about the new medium and its emphasis on image rather than ideas.
5. Murrow tackled subjects, such as McCarthy, directly.
Aries doesn’t shy from a fight.
He did what many had been afraid to do. McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee had created an environment of fear.
He cemented his, and the show’s, name when it critised McCarthyism and the Red Scare.
Murrow’s hard-hitting approach to the news was highly rated. But never played well on primetime TV.
(Biographer Joseph Persico notes that Murrow, watching an early episode of The $64,000 Question air just before his own See It Now, is said to have turned to CBS boss Friendly and asked how long they expected to keep their time slot).
“This is an old team, trying to learn a new trade.”
This is one of my favourite surprise readings. It’s so inspiring because everyone has Mercury and Mars — they’re archetypes in every astrological natal chart. We all have the latent power in how wield our power of communication.
Murrow exemplified both tone and style in relation to his fellow men. He made speaking an art form, as well as a tool for battle.
We need people like Edward R. Murrow today.
There’s more to his chart. Until next time.
What do you think?
As above, so below,
Mel, i.e.,