Edward R. Murrow was not just any ordinary journalist during World War II. He was a broadcasting giant who revolutionized the way mass media reported on war. His voice was synonymous with a passionate commitment to telling the truth, no matter the cost. Edward R. Murrow remains one of the most cherished journalists of our time. His approach to journalism revolutionized the industry, and his work remains a yardstick to measure true professionalism in news reporting. As a journalist during World War II, Murrow’s contribution was nothing short of exceptional. He provided an in-depth, honest, and informative account of the war, bringing the stories of brave soldiers and civilians to millions of people across the globe.

Murrow was born in 1908 in Guilford County, North Carolina. He grew up in the era of radio, and by the time he was in his twenties, he had already become a renowned journalist in radio broadcasting. His love for radio, and his hunger for the truth, made him a household name. As Nazi Germany began to rise, Murrow became increasingly concerned about the events happening overseas, and he believed the American people needed to know the truth about the war.

It was during World War II that Murrow’s remarkable career soared higher. He dedicated himself to reporting on the front lines of the conflict in Europe, providing essential insight to Americans back home. His broadcasts captured the sounds and voices of war with unprecedented realism and graphic detail. His reports brought the war home to many Americans and helped shake the country’s isolationist mindset. Murrow recruited and trained some of the best journalists of the time, including Charles Collingwood, William Shirer, and Eric Sevareid. With this team, he reported extensively on the events of the war, bringing a human perspective to the stories.

At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Murrow was working as the director of talks for CBS news. It was not long before he was dispatched to Europe to provide first-hand information about the war. In London, Murrow worked from rooftops in the midst of air raids, bringing the account of the war to the homes of millions of Americans on the radio. His voice boomed through the airwaves, bringing listeners face-to-face with the horrors of war. Murrow flew on 25 Allied combat missions during the war, providing additional reports from planes as they carried on over Europe. His improvisational skills and vivid descriptions of the scenes around him and below him helped make his broadcasts on the radio more effective. As the war progressed, Murrow expanded CBS News in London into what Harrison Salisbury referred to as "the finest news staff anybody had ever put together in Europe," dubbing the reporters in the group, "Murrow's Boys," although Mary Marvin Breckinridge was included despite being a woman.

One of the most significant events in Murrow's career during World War II was his coverage of the Blitz. The Blitz was a bombing campaign that lasted for almost a year, where the Germans bombed London relentlessly. Murrow was on the ground, recording the sounds of bombs exploding, people screaming, and buildings collapsing. His coverage of this event went beyond the news. He exposed the human cost of war, introducing a new perspective into news reporting that has since changed the way we look at war. Murrow's most famous war reporting was his live broadcast from London during the height of the Blitz in 1940. In his broadcasts, he spoke directly to the American people, describing the devastation wrought by the Nazi bombing campaign. His "This is London" broadcasts painted vivid pictures of the destruction, fear, and resilience of the British people under attack. His reporting brought the realities of war closer to home to the American people who had so far been safe.

Photo above: Morrow in the CBS studio, date unknown but probably post-World War II. 

Video below: Good Night and Good Luck...The Story of Edward R. Murrow (1975). From a PBS rebroadcast of a 1975 documentary produced by the BBC on the life and career of Murrow.

Throughout the course of the war, Murrow achieved legendary status among both journalists and the public. He traveled to North Africa and then followed the Allies through Italy, France, and Germany. Along the way, he covered major battles like the Normandy invasion and the fall of Berlin. In 1944, he established the CBS network's European headquarters in London and became the head of the CBS News division in Europe. In 1944, Murrow accompanied American troops on the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He gave a firsthand account of what it was like to be in the boats, and he described in eerie detail the sounds of the war from the front lines. This coverage brought the war closer to home, making people realize the severity of the events happening overseas. 

Murrow's work during World War II did not stop there. He went on to report from the concentration camps, becoming one of the first journalists to bring this knowledge to the forefront of the world's attention. His reporting helped to expose the atrocities happening to the Jewish people, and it was a source of inspiration to millions of people, including world leaders who would eventually take action.

In 1945, Murrow and Bill Shadel were the first reporters to visit the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. Murrow met Petr Zenkl, who survived the camp and emaciation, as well as children with identification tattoos, and "bodies stacked up like cordwood" in the crematorium. Murrow reported the experience three days later, saying:

There surged around me an evil-smelling stink, men and boys reached out to touch me. They were in rags and the remnants of uniforms. Death already had marked many of them, but they were smiling with their eyes. I looked out over the mass of men to the green fields beyond, where well-fed Germans were ploughing....

I asked to see one of the barracks. It happened to be occupied by Czechoslovaks. When I entered, men crowded around, tried to lift me to their shoulders. They were too weak. Many of them could not get out of bed. I was told that this building had once stabled 80 horses. There were 1200 men in it, five to a bunk. The stink was beyond all description.

They called the doctor. We inspected his records. There were only names in the little black book — nothing more — nothing about who had been where, what he had done or hoped. Behind the names of those who had died, there was a cross. I counted them. They totaled 242 — 242 out of 1200, in one month.

As we walked out into the courtyard, a man fell dead. Two others, they must have been over 60, were crawling toward the latrine. I saw it, but will not describe it.

In another part of the camp they showed me the children, hundreds of them. Some were only 6 years old. One rolled up his sleeves, showed me his number. It was tattooed on his arm. B-6030, it was. The others showed me their numbers. They will carry them till they die. An elderly man standing beside me said: “The children — enemies of the state!” I could see their ribs through their thin shirts....

We went to the hospital. It was full. The doctor told me that 200 had died the day before. I asked the cause of death. He shrugged and said: “tuberculosis, starvation, fatigue and there are many who have no desire to live. It is very difficult.” He pulled back the blanket from a man's feet to show me how swollen they were. The man was dead. Most of the patients could not move.

I asked to see the kitchen. It was clean. The German in charge....showed me the daily ration. One piece of brown bread about as thick as your thumb, on top of it a piece of margarine as big as three sticks of chewing gum. That, and a little stew, was what they received every 24 hours. He had a chart on the wall. Very complicated it was. There were little red tabs scattered through it. He said that was to indicate each 10 men who died. He had to account for the rations and he added: “We're very efficient here.”

We proceeded to the small courtyard. The wall adjoined what had been a stable or garage. We entered. It was floored with concrete. There were two rows of bodies stacked up like cordwood. They were thin and very white. Some of the bodies were terribly bruised; though there seemed to be little flesh to bruise. Some had been shot through the head, but they bled but little.

I arrived at the conclusion that all that was mortal of more than 500 men and boys lay there in two neat piles. There was a German trailer, which must have contained another 50, but it wasn't possible to count them. The clothing was piled in a heap against the wall. It appeared that most of the men and boys had died of starvation; they had not been executed. But the manner of death seemed unimportant. Murder had been done at Buchenwald. God alone knows how many men and boys have died there during the last 12 years. Thursday, I was told that there were more than 20,000 in the camp. There had been as many as 60,000. Where are they now?

I pray you to believe what I have said about Buchenwald. I reported what I saw and heard, but only part of it. For most of it, I have no words. If I've offended you by this rather mild account of Buchenwald, I'm not in the least sorry."

(Edward Morrow, https://www.edwardmurrow.com/2012/06/world-war-ii-reporter.html. Accessed 4 November 2023)

Back in the United States, Murrow recognized the power of radio like no one else in the media outlets. He was convinced that the medium of radio could be used to reach millions of listeners, and he proved it during his live broadcast from London. He also knew that the use of radio for propaganda could backfire, so he focused on eliminating disinformation and telling the hard truth rather than making propagandistic claims. After the war, Murrow recruited a second generation of journalists into the circle of Murrow's Boys, including Alexander Kendrick, David Schoenbrun, Daniel Schorr, and Robert Pierpoint.

His boldness and his unflinching commitment to the truth grew even more defiant when he took on Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954. Murrow's courageous broadcast "See It Now" exposed the lies and baseless accusations that McCarthy had spread on his witch hunt for Communists in the US government. Murrow spoke out against McCarthy with eloquence and passion that reverberated across the nation. Murrow, a chain smoker of three packs of cigarettes a day, passed away from lung cancer on 27 April 1965 at the age of 57.

Bibliography

"Edward R Murrow: Broadcast Journalist." Edward Murrow. Last modified September 15, 2013. https://www.edwardmurrow.com/.

"Edward R. Murrow Broadcast from London (September 21, 1940)." Library of Congress. Accessed November 4, 2023. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/murrow.pdf.

"Edward R. Murrow." CBS News - Breaking News, 24/7 Live Streaming News & Top Stories. Last modified February 23, 2006. https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/edward-r-murrow/.

"Edward R. Murrow's Report From Buchenwald." JewishGen - The Home of Jewish Genealogy. Accessed November 4, 2023. https://www.jewishgen.org/forgottencamps/witnesses/MurrowEng.html.