Edward R. Murrow’s legacy began during his senior year at Washington State College in 1930. He convinced CBS to start a new radio program, and he got the show famous gusts like Einstein, Gandhi and Hindenburg. He graduated with a speech major, never considering himself a journalist, but instead he called himself an educator. In 1938 Murrow covered Germany’s attack on Austria. It was the first time someone reported a live eyewitness account of the news; Murrow had invented the “newscast.” Throughout the rest of his life he hosted a news show called “See it Now,” and an entertainment show called “Person to Person.” Because of Murrow refused to hide the truth in his news show, he became “bad for business” and his news show was cancelled.
The Murrow Legacy refers to Murrow’s belief that if there’s a wrong that needs to be corrected, then it is a journalist’s responsibility to report the story. The lecture covered four main themes of the legacy: transparency in institutions of power and privilege; concern for human rights and advocacy for justice; conversance with the complexities of globalization and inter-culturalism; and language. Murrow developed a journalistic standard of objectivity, and many times he risked his job when he upheld this standard by reporting with honor, fairness and balance. While Murrow rarely provided answers (morals) in his work, he was good at asking the right questions, providing his audience with the ethical base it needs to choose its own answers and morals.
