The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism [Hardcover]

Stanley W. Cloud (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 1996

In 1937, as World War II loomed, the task of forming a European news staff to cover the coming conflict for CBS radio fell to Edward R. Murrow. At a time when broadcast news was in its infancy, Murrow trained the talented and daring group of foreign correspondents - ten men and one woman - who came to be known as the Murrow Boys. As the war developed, these young pioneers of radio news had to teach themselves the business, and in the process they invented broadcast journalism. They won the admiration of the nation for their superb, often heroic coverage of the war and the postwar years. But in the decades after World War II the Murrow Boys, and the form of journalism they practiced, fell victim to corporate pressures. By the end of their careers, they would see the Murrow tradition give way to the commercialism and sensationalism associated with broadcast news today. The Murrow Boys - a dramatic narrative that vividly portrays, in addition to Murrow, such giants of journalism as Eric S

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1937, Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965) was dispatched to Europe by CBS Radio as its European representative. Although the job consisted of finding entertainment for the radio, world events would soon intervene. With Hitler beginning his rampage, Murrow fought isolationism at home and provincialism at CBS to form a legendary group of electronic journalists. William L. Shirer became Berlin correspondent, and Murrow, holding down London himself, hired the vain, insecure Eric Sevareid for Paris. Streetwise New Yorker Larry LeSueur, covered Dunkirk. There were also Charles Collingwood, Murrow's "Bonnie Prince Charlie," who loved the good life; Winston Burdett, onetime Communist later turned stool pigeon for a red-hunting Senate committee; and Howard K. Smith, Southern gentleman and Rhodes Scholar, who would take "the last train from Berlin" when the U.S. entered the war. With the end of the war, we see "the boys" as they evolve in a changing America, resisting television (they all, at first, hated it); McCarthyism (Sevareid, Murrow and, especially, Collingwood would be fearless); hubris (Shirer became so arrogant he was fired); and the CBS corporate structure (William S. Paley, corporate shark, would always win). Cloud, a former Washington bureau chief for Time, and his wife, Olson, former White House correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, have written a lively, colloquial history of broadcast journalism that is so exciting one's impulse is to read it in a single sitting.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

At first blush, this book by a husband-and-wife team of journalists may seem an oft-told tale, a further deifying of CBS News' Edward R. Murrow (already deified in numerous autobiographies by the "boys"). But it is much, much more than that; it is a thorough and scholarly documentation of radio reportage during World War II by the likes of Murrow, William Shirer, Eric Sevareid, Charles Collingwood, Howard K. Smith, Hugh Downs, et al., which created a whole new journalistic industry. The Murrow Boys is written with page-turning verve; the largely egocentric, hard-drinking cast is presented in detail with all warts exposed. But the story is also a sad one, revealing the breakup of a fine network news operation by executives focused on the bottom line and, in more recent years, by the advent of local television newsrooms peopled with cookie-cutter personnel selected for good looks and ethnic balance and without regard for journalistic experience. This book gives one pause about the quality of the news we get on TV. Highly recommended for all libraries.?Chet Hagan, Berks Cty. P.L. System, Pa.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 445 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; 1ST edition (May 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395680840
• ISBN-13: 978-0395680841
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #594,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How radio and TV news got started., March 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism (Paperback)

Great book for news junkies, World War II buffs, and anyone who has ever gotten shafted on the job! The authors showed how these men made CBS the Tiffany network, and how it discarded every single one of them, including the great Ed Murrow. An insightful look at network news, and why there's not much depth to it. Interesting to see what went on "behind the scenes" with some of the most famous (and not familar) names in broadcast journalism. Not a boring chapter in the book!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history and character study, May 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism (Paperback)

The names Murrow, Sevareid, Collingwood, and Shirer have created standards that have been forgotten. Thought has been replaced by good looks. Read this book to see how CBS News became a news operation of mythic proportion with brilliant, yet terribly troubled men creating such high standards that have become forgotten. (You'll see no one on your local five pm television news here.) For these men, the importance was in writing, not pictures. You'll also see how these legendary men were racked with insecurities and self-torture. It's also uncanny in terms of how each had a rise and fall at CBS. Sadly, it's all true. The authors didn't need to resort to poetic license. (Read other accounts of these figures and you'll learn that.) When you're done with this book, you'll wish Howard K. Smith or Robert Trout were still on television today. You'll wish that instead of having happy talk on the news, you had thoughful, intelligent people who respected their audience doing reports that provoked the viewer's intellect and not pander to him. Read how Howard K. Smith was fired from CBS, what prompted it way back then, and realize the standards have been steadily declining since then on all networks. It's an enjoyable, easy-to-read book that describes the creation and erosion of impeccable standards.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-Done and Revealing, October 9, 2000

By 

K.A.Goldberg (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism (Paperback)

This look at the "Boys" who covered World War II for CBS radio is quite moving. I liked reading of Ed Murrow's battles with the CBS brass, and the portraits of William L. Shirer, Eric Sevareid, Larry LeSueur, Myra Breckenridge (the Murrow "Girl"), Charles Collingwood, etc. How odd that such talented journalists were often wracked by jealousy and self-doubt. How predictable that CBS eventually dumped most of the Boys - along with their high standards - after the advent of television. By forsaking such talent, CBS helped usher in the image-conscious, bleeds-it-leads mediocrity of today's news. Fortunately, Howard K. Smith, Shirer, Sevareid and several others left a rich legacy in books and memoirs, and at this writing one can still hear Richard C. Hottelet report for National Public Radio (NPR). This book should be required reading for all journalists and corporate news executives.