30 quotes
The Power and Responsibility of Television
Edward R. Murrow
This instrument can teach; it can illuminate; yes, and even it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it's nothing but wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance, and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.
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Dissent vs. Disloyalty in Investigative Ethics
Edward R. Murrow
The line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one, and the junior senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly…. We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.
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Going Down Swinging
Fred Friendly
Might as well go down swinging.
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Facing Power Through Truth Alone
Taglines
They Took On The Government With Nothing But The Truth
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Defending Freedom at Home and Abroad
Edward R. Murrow
We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.
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Concerns About Broadcasting's Impact on Society
Edward R. Murrow's Radio-Television News Directors Association Convention Address, delivered 15 October 1958, Chicago, Illinois
Believing that potentially the commercial system of broadcasting as practiced in this country is the best and freest yet devised, I have decided to express my concern about what I believe to be happening to radio and television. These instruments have been good to me beyond my due. There exists in my mind no reasonable grounds for any kind of personal complaint. I have no feud, either with my employers, any sponsors, or with the professional critics of radio and television. But I am seized with an abiding fear regarding what these two instruments are doing to our society, our culture, and our heritage.
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Embracing Courage Over Fear
Taglines
We will not walk in fear of each other.
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Accountability Lies Within Ourselves
Edward R. Murrow
Referring to a line from ] recited by Senator McCarthy: Had Senator McCarthy looked just three lines earlier he would have found this: "The fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves...”
[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]
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Reflections on Media Responsibility and Integrity
Edward R. Murrow's Radio-Television News Directors Association Convention Address, delivered 15 October 1958, Chicago, Illinois
*End of quotes from Convention Address
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Courage to Speak Truth in Troubling Times
Taglines
In A Nation Terrorized By Its Own Government, One Man Dared to Tell The Truth
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The Importance of Engaging Media
Edward R. Murrow
To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent, and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse, and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost.
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Courage in the Face of Fear
Edward R. Murrow
We will not walk in fear, one of another…. We are not descended from fearful men — not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular….
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McCarthy on Murrow's Symbolism and Leadership
Joseph McCarthy
Now, ordinarily--I would not take time out from the important work at hand to answer Murrow. However, in this case, I feel justified in doing so because Murrow is a symbol,a leader and the cleverest of the jackal pack which is always found at the throat of anyone who dares to expose individual Communists and traitors.
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Truth and Deception in Cigarette Rituals
Edward R. Murrow
Funny thing, Freddie, every time you light a cigarette for me, I know you're lying.
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Invitation to a Knickerbocker Game
William Paley
There's a Knickerbocker game tonight, I've got front row seats. Are you interested?
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Television's Role in the Battle for Survival
Edward R. Murrow
Stonewall Jackson, who is generally believed to have known something about weapons, is reported to have said, "When war comes, you must draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." The trouble with television is that it is rusting in the scabbard during a battle for survival.
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Responsibility in Broadcasting and Personal Accountability
Edward R. Murrow's Radio-Television News Directors Association Convention Address, delivered 15 October 1958, Chicago, Illinois
All of these things -- All of these things you know. You should also know at the outset that, in the manner of witnesses before Congressional committees, I appear here voluntarily -- by invitation; that I am an employee of the Columbia Broadcasting System; that I am neither an officer nor any longer a director of that corporation; and that these remarks are strictly of a "do-it-yourself" nature. If what I have to say is responsible, then I alone am responsible for the saying of it. Seeking neither approbation from my employers, nor news sponsors, nor acclaim from the critics of radio and television, I cannot very well be disappointed.
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The Importance of Congressional Committees
Edward R. Murrow
No one familiar with the history of his country, can deny that congressional committees are useful. It is necessary to investigate before legislating.
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The Weight of Amplified Voices
Edward R. Murrow's Radio-Television News Directors Association Convention Address, delivered 15 October 1958, Chicago, Illinois
I have no technical advice or counsel to offer those of you who labor in this vineyard, the one that produces words and pictures. You will, I am sure, forgive me for not telling you that the instruments with which you work are miraculous, that your responsibility is unprecedented, or that your aspirations are frequently frustrated. It is not necessary to remind you of the fact that your voice, amplified to the degree where it reaches from one end of the country to the other, does not confer upon you greater wisdom than when your voice reached only from one end of the bar to the other.
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McCarthy Responds to Murrow's Criticism
Joseph McCarthy
Good evening. Mr. Edward R. Murrow, Educational Director of the Columbia Broadcasting System, devoted his program to an attack on the work of the United States Senate Investigating Committee, and on me personally as its chairman, and over the past four years he has made repeated attacks upon me and those fighting Communists.
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Challenges Facing Radio and Television Media
Edward R. Murrow's Radio-Television News Directors Association Convention Address, delivered 15 October 1958, Chicago, Illinois
This just might do nobody any good. At the end of this discourse a few people may accuse this reporter of fouling his own comfortable nest, and your organization may be accused of having given hospitality to heretical and even dangerous thoughts. But I am persuaded that the elaborate structure of networks, advertising agencies, and sponsors will not be shaken or altered. It is my desire, if not my duty, to try to talk to you journeymen with some candor about what is happening to radio and television in this generous and capacious land.
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Defending Freedom at Home and Abroad
Edward R. Murrow
This is no time for men who oppose Sen. McCarthy's methods to keep silent or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom where ever it still exists in the world. But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.
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Encouragement to Create News and Impact
Fred Friendly
There's no news, boys, so go out there and make some news. Rob a bank, mug an old lady, whatever - just do something.
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The Dangers of Media Distraction and Delusion
Edward R. Murrow
We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late.
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Support and Solidarity Through Time
William Paley
I'm with you today Ed, and I'm with you tomorrow.
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Acknowledgment of Patience
Edward R. Murrow
Thank you for your patience.
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Consequences of Responsibility in Journalism
William Paley
My cards. You lose, what happens? Five guys find themselves out of work. I'm responsible for a hell of a lot more than five god damned reporters. Let it go. McCarthy will self-destruct.
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Responsibility for Fear Lies Within Ourselves
Edward R. Murrow
The actions of the Junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And who's fault is that? Not really his; he didn't create this situation of fear, he merely exploited it, and rather successfully. Cassius was right: the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. Good night, and good luck.
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Confronting Fear in the Room
Edward R. Murrow
We're going with this story. Because the terror is right here in this room.
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Activating Communication in Critical Moments
Fred Friendly
Turn the phones on!
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