Edward R. Murrow

A pioneer of broadcast journalism, Edward R. Murrow set the bar for integrity in the medium through his famed reporting from Europe during World War II, and later with his uncompromising coverage of national and world events for CBS News. Murrow was largely credited with providing the turning point in national opinion towards Senator Joseph McCarthy's Communist accusations during the Red Scare of the 1950s, though his rise to prominence came at a heavy price. Murrow's steadfast adherence to journalistic ethics and principles led to outspoken criticism of network programming and news coverage, which in turn led to his ouster from the network that he had helped to build in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The path he blazed for generations of news reporters and journalists remained a high-water mark for the medium, as well as a reminder of the duty all journalists shared in presenting the facts of the day in clear, concise and honest terms.