Customer Reviews

Biography - Edward R. Murrow: Voice of America

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I teach an undergraduate Psychology and the Media course and used the Morrow DVD to discuss his impact on the news. His DVD was quite a learning experience for them. This DVD is a wonderful teaching tool and very informative.

This guy was famous way before my time. But it becomes more interesting as I think of him as a latter-day Tom Brokaw or Peter Jennings. If you are curious of the trajectories of news reporters such as Meredith Vieira, Anderson Cooper, Travis Smiley, or others, then you may as well look to the past for answers.

I think the Biography series can be conservative or bury facts in a Murdoch-esque fashion. However, this program says that Murrow, a Quaker, helped Jewish intellectuals from Germany and reported extensively on atrocities against Jewish camp detainees. He may go down in history as a strong ally to the Jewish community. In our post-Lewinsky times, people may be surprised that many famous men had affairs, and this documentary admitted that Murrow was one of them.

This work tried to be diverse by showing female interviewees and biographers, not just male ones. Murrow was a smoker, just like Jennings and many others. Their deaths may remind viewers to try to give up that dangerous habit.

Murrow's suspicion about moving from radio to TV reminds me of Chaplin's fear of "talkies." It reminds me of how I don't own an I-pod and still buy "unburnt" CDs. As refreshing as new technology is, this documentary reminds one that it can also be scary.