The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism (Paperback)

~ (Author), Stanley W. Cloud (Author) "LARRY LESUEUR and his Indian Scout were hurtling down New York's Henry Hudson Parkway at a speed, LeSueur admitted later, that should have satisfied anyone..." (more)
Key Phrases: objectivity policy, news roundup, radio correspondents, New York, Eric Sevareid, United States (more...)

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 445 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (October 31, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395877539
• ISBN-13: 978-0395877531
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #529,639 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 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

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!

6 of 6 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 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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Engaging Look at the Murrow Boys, August 17, 2006

By	M. L. Asselin (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Stanley Cloud and Lynne Olson's THE MURROW BOYS is very well researched and sourced. The writing is lively, and propels the reader happily forward. In this book, Cloud and Olson treat a fascinating and important subject that is largely forgotten in the contemporary world of news-as-entertainment.

Edward R. Murrow had drawn together an erudite, talented group of thinkers and writers to form the first cadre of broadcast journalists. His crack team of radio reporters covered the tragedy and triumphs of what became known as World War II, in a way both immediate and personal, both intimate and emblematic, and above all literate. Occasionally, television journalism rises above popular tastes and pretty talking heads to inform and move the viewer on truly critical issues of the day, but never with the consistency and depth of insight of the Murrow Boys.

The Murrow Boys, however, by and large shared a weakness with their later television counterparts: they were vain and egotistical, in short, "stars." Cloud and Olsen, aside from skillfully explaining the revolution in mass communications that radio journalism was, devote quite a bit of their book to the celebrity status of these prima donnas. This underscores the Murrow Boys' ultimate self-deception and hypocrisy: while they railed at the shallowness of television news production, programming, and personalities, they positioned themselves--each one out for himself--to grab as much limelight as possible. Ultimately, celebrity triumphed over journalistic integrity.

Thus THE MURROW BOYs does come off as a fast-paced celebrity biography. As a celebrity biography, it is very successful: it is engaging and sophisticated. From that perspective, one might well treat it as one does an intelligent "beach read": light, entertaining reading that one does not have to hide.

However that may be, the book gives one an appreciation for the significance of the Murrow Boys. Too bad, though, that the authors did not choose to include more text from the reporting of the Murrow Boys; that would have given the reader a greater appreciation of their eloquence. Better yet, a CD with some of these broadcasts would have made a nice accompaniment.

And too bad that the authors did not choose to go beyond the Murrow Boys' celebrity to explain the impact of their reporting on the American public as well as how they may have helped to shape history. As an example of the misplaced priorities of the writers: There is an instance described late in the book about how Charles Collingwood was invited to North Vietnam in 1968 and how his reporting from Hanoi helped lead to the peace talks. This half-page is then followed up with three pages on the relationship between Collingwood and his wife, Rita, at this time.

Despite these limitations, the book is still fun and informative. And it really ought to read as a reminder of the tremendous service delivered by Murrow's proud pioneers of the airwaves.