Edward R. Murrow addresses RTNDA

Edward R Murrow addresses the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) convention in Chicago. He discusses the need for more substantive coverage of important news and events, the dangers inherent in the commercialization of the news and the need for an informed public in a functioning democratic society. Murrow decries the timidity of network news and radio in the face of criticism from corporate and governmental institutions that may prefer less controversial coverage of important topics. He expresses faith in the American public's ability to absorb important and volatile subject matter if it's presented in a clear, factual, and dispassionate manner, citing CBS's coverage of the tensions between Israel and Egypt, radioactive fallout from nuclear testing and the connection between smoking and lung cancer as examples.

WNYC archives id: 85094