Edward R. Murrow…

was born in Greensboro, North Carolina on this date in 1908. According to The Encylcopedia of Television

Edward R. Murrow is the most distinguished and renowned figure in the history of American broadcast journalism. He was a seminal force in the creation and development of electronic newsgathering as both a craft and a profession. …

David Halberstam once observed in The Powers That Be that Murrow was “one of those rare legendary figures who was as good as his myth.” …

Ed Murrow’s rich, full, and expressive voice first came to the attention of America’s listening public in his many rooftop radio broadcasts during the Battle of Britain in 1939. In words evocative of America’s original founding fathers, Murrow frequently used the airwaves to revivify and popularize many democratic ideals such as free speech, citizen participation, the pursuit of truth, and the sanctification of individual liberties and rights, that resulted from a broader liberal discourse in England, France, and the United States. Resurrecting these values and virtues for a mass audience of true believers during the London Blitz was high drama–the opposing threat of totalitarianism, made real by Nazi bombs, was ever present in the background. Ed Murrow’s persona was thus established, embodying the political traditions of the Western democracies, and offering the public a heroic model on which to focus their energies.

Continue reading about Murrow from The Encylcopedia of Television.

See also the Radio Hall of Fame entry for Murrow, which includes a brief sound clip from London during the war.