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View Full Version : Ed Murrow gives up smoking in the early 1950s

Derek Jackson
July 28th, 2008, 09:09 AM
WI Murrow had stopped smoking and had thus postponed his death the 10-30 years.
burmafrd
July 28th, 2008, 11:59 AM
His influence was so great that I think if he had lived another 10 years you would NOT have the kind of media we have now= dishonest, biased and untrustworthy.
Paul V McNutt
July 28th, 2008, 01:23 PM
Would he have done sixty minutes?
1940LaSalle
July 28th, 2008, 04:30 PM
One can only hope Murrow would have had sufficient influence to counter the make-it-bland, don't-offend tendencies of the suits who focused entirely on the annual report bottom line. Perhaps "Sixty Minutes" might have focused more in depth on a few issues to the point where it might well have been an electronic ombudsman of sorts. I could see where Murrow would have no time for advocacy journalism; rather, he'd be a stickler for getting as close to a truly balanced view as possible.

That said, it makes one wonder how Murrow would have dealt with Viet Nam and the five o'clock follies, or Watergate.
Electric Monk
July 28th, 2008, 08:45 PM
Murrow was being forced out anyway, if he stays on the air for 10 years it's as an increasingly sidelined figure.
burmafrd
July 29th, 2008, 05:33 AM
Actually a healthier Murrow would have left CBS and gone solo or to another network. He HATED being an administrator and loved being a reporter. I have no doubt at all that he would have left CBS and done something else- ABC or NBC would have KILLED to get him.
burmafrd
July 29th, 2008, 05:34 AM
And actually I think it would be more as an example to reporters on how to do the job RIGHT then any effect it would have had on the suits- who really did not start to impact the news media untill the 70s.
Electric Monk
July 29th, 2008, 07:37 AM
Actually a healthier Murrow would have left CBS and gone solo or to another network. He HATED being an administrator and loved being a reporter. I have no doubt at all that he would have left CBS and done something else- ABC or NBC would have KILLED to get him.

They would have killed to get him, but once they actually had him… he's still headed in the same direction as he was at CBS.
burmafrd
July 29th, 2008, 03:58 PM
I think that Murrow would have made it a condition on him going with Either NBC or ABC that he be allowed to do shows instead of being stuck in an office.