"Get it, read it, and pass it on." —Bill Moyers "Most Americans living today never heard Ed Murrow in a live broadcast. This book is for them I want them to know that broadcast journalism was established by someone with the highest standards. Tabloid crime stories, so much a part of the lust for ratings by today's news broadcasters, held no interest for Murrow. He did like Hollywood celebrities, but interviewed them for his entertainment programs; they had no place on his news programs. My book is focused on this life in journalism. I offer it in the hope that more people in and out of the news business will get to know Ed Murrow. Perhaps in time the descent from Murrow's principles can be reversed." —Bob Edwards

This probing new work by a renowned biographer examines the many facets of the complex, contradictory and extremely private man who virtually invented modern broadcast journalism and who put his indelible mark on our memories and our time.

Combining brilliant analysis and an unfailing eye for detail, Edward R. Murrow's This is London is a fascinating portrait of the war from one of the greatest broadcasters of all time.

In March 1961 America’s most prominent journalist, Edward R. Murrow, ended a quarter-century career with the Columbia Broadcasting System to join the administration of John F. Kennedy as director of the United States Information Agency (USIA). Charged with promoting a positive image abroad, the agency sponsored overseas research programs, produced documentaries, and operated the Voice of America to spread the country’s influence throughout the world. As director of the USIA, Murrow hired African Americans for top spots in the agency and leveraged his celebrity status at home to challenge all Americans to correct the scourge of domestic racism that discouraged developing countries, viewed as strategic assets, from aligning with the West. Using both overt and covert propaganda programs, Murrow forged a positive public image for Kennedy administration policies in an unsettled era that included the rise of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and support for Vietnam’s Ngo Dinh Diem. Murrow’s Cold War tackles an understudied portion of Murrow’s life, reveals how one of America’s most revered journalists improved the global perception of the United States, and exposes the importance of public diplomacy in the advancement of U.S. foreign policy.

The broadcasting pioneer at the nexus between journalism and foreign policy

"The proceeds of this book go directly to This I Believe, Inc., a non-profit organization that is dedicated to furthering the mission of Edward R. Murrow's This I Believe."-- P. [4] of cover.