U.S. #2812
29¢ Edward R. Murrow
Issue Date: January 21, 1994
City: Pullman, WA
Quantity: 150,500,000
Printed By: Ashton-Potter
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: 11.2
Color: Brown
Perhaps one of the best-known radio and television reporters, Edward R. Murrow (1908-65) became the first broadcast journalist to be honored on a stamp. A graduate of Washington State University, he joined Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1937 as its European director.
Covering the German occupation of Austria beginning in 1938, the Munich Conference (1938), and the takeover of Czechoslovakia (1939), he won recognition for his crisp, accurate reporting. During World War II Murrow gained fame for his on-the-scene reports describing German bombings of London as well as other major developments in Great Britain.
Following the war, Murrow returned to broadcasting with a weeknight newscast. In 1951 he began a new style of TV newscasting with his program See It Now. Based on the popular radio show called Hear It Now, this weekly documentary series brought the American public face-to-face with some of the most critical moments in contemporary U.S. history. From 1953-59 he also narrated the TV program Person to Person, featuring interviews with famous people in their homes.
In 1961 President John F. Kennedy appointed Murrow director of the U.S. Information Agency.