The Murrow Legacy

The lecture, titled The Murrow Legacy, was full of information about Edward R. Murrow and how he changed the course of history. There were several "fun facts" mingled in with the lecture, including the fact that Edward R. Murrow was born in a log cabin built when George Washington was president.

A few highlights of the lecture include:

• Edward R. Murrow started a radio program that featured world leaders such as Albert Einstein, Hindenburg, and Gandhi
• Murrow was not a journalist and wanted to become an educator
• Hie job at CBS was supposed to be temporary and his most popular show was not the news but a celebrity interview show
• He was in Austria recording children's choirs when Hitler took over the country
• Murrow was the first to report the news live and was the inventor of broadcast news
• One of his most influential teachers was Ida Lou Anderson whose talent was recognized by Professor Reeid
• Murrow never outwardly criticized McCarthy and allowed him to rebut which lead to his downfall
• Murrow went 25 times across war zones on bombers, one of the most deadly treks during WWII
• Murrow actually put together a program to save German scholars, something that many criticized him for
• Murrow thought television did nothing but rot the brains of it's watchers

The Murrow Legacy has four themes:

1. Transparency in institutions of power and privilege
2. Concern for human rights and advocacy for justice
3. Conversance with the complexities of globalization and inter-culturalism
4. Language

Overall the lecture was very informative and explained why our school of communications is named after such an exceptional man.