It is time for another generation to learn about Edward R. Murrow, a CBS newsman who died 25 years ago.
And there is no better way to begin than with "Edward R. Murrow: This Reporter" airing Monday nights on PBS' series "American Masters" for the next two weeks (Monday's 10:35 p.m, KUED Ch. 7)Director Susan Steinberg and writer Ed Apfel wisely let Murrow's story tell itself, with archival footage and interviews with his colleagues, friends and family. It's narrated by the gorgeous beefsteak voice of Charles Kuralt.
"This Reporter" is a definitive TV portrait of America's greatest broadcast journalist. Murrow personified the highest standards of his craft and ended his 22-year career as its conscience and its prophet.
Murrow's broadcast career began in 1937, when he was a CBS news executive sent to Europe to set up a network of correspondents to cover the gathering storm. From the start, he insisted on good reporters, not professional announcers.
Murrow died of lung cancer on April 27, 1965.