Celebrating Edward R. Murrow (MP3)

International Trucks (1:12)

April 26 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Edward R. Murrow, a broadcasting pioneer who wrote the book first for radio reporting during World War II, then later for long-form television reporting. Murrow's decision to face off against the the forces of Senator Eugene McCarthy's Communist witch hunt is well-documented in George Clooney's GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK.

I first learned about Murrow in high school, thanks to a teacher who was a fan and presented his CBS documentary HARVEST OF SHAME, dealing with the plight of migrant farm workers, each year around Thanksgiving. Murrow's belief in "the box" as a tool for enlightment and exposing corruption hit a chord with me and made me a fan of both journalism and documentaries, and later broadcasting. As fellow Murrow fans are no doubt aware, the name of this blog and my radio show are a play on Murrow's I CAN HEAR IT NOW.

This MP3 is an announcement for International Harvester's 1957 50th anniversary convention. Murrow was a highlight of the event, providing a televised interview of some of International Harvester's top executives.

It's interesting to note that in the modern age, a journalist would shun these corporate gigs to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interests. Walter Cronkite was pilloried by his journalism colleagues after agreeing to appear in infomericals in 2003, and Mike Wallace was greeted with skepticism by news agencies after he took commercial assignments to pay his bills. One surviving example of Wallace's work is The Zenith 2G Tonearm from the original 365 Days Project.

Those restrictions were less common in the 1950s, so here's a rare chance to hear Murrow discuss something other than the news. It even ends with an alternate version of his trademark signoff, "Good bye, and good luck."