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Although several of the correspondents, notably Eric Sevareid, William L. Shirer, and Howard K. Smith, did achieve significant postwar recognition, this unique and exceptionally talented group is largely forgotten today. Fortunately, journalists Stanley Cloud and Lynne Olson tell us their stories in the absorbing and readable The Murrow Boys.
Edward R. Murrow was basically a booking agent for CBS in Europe in 1937. When it became obvious that events there needed to be covered, Murrow's role changed. His first hire was William L. Shirer, an experienced newspaperman who was in Germany but had lost his job. "This new kind of journalist was no mere commentator or announcer. He was a full-fledged correspondent who did it all-reported, wrote, and spoke on the air."
Radio news meant writing for the ear, not the eye. "Avoid high-flown rhetoric and frenetic delivery. Focus on the concrete . . . the telling detail." Since Murrow had never been a reporter himself, "he threw out all of the rigid, traditional rules of news writing." He and the boys were calm and conversational in their approach. They did this daily, despite battles with their New York bosses over what "objectivity" meant and despite the constant threat of transmissions problems.
These correspondents are fairly described as "intellectual adventurers." They were in part realists who lived in the Great Depression and yearned for opportunities to go exciting places and do interesting work. They were admired for their work and became celebrities.
The authors reveal the complexities of their subjects, their insecurities, their passions, and their rivalries. The Murrow Boys is exciting and fascinating; it is part broadcasting history, part multiple biography. However you describe it, it is a book to savor.
Roger Bishop is Contributing Editor to this publication.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.