Murrow Boys

The Murrow Boys, or Murrow's Boys, were the CBS broadcast journalists most closely associated with Edward R. Murrow during his years at the network, most notably the years before and during World War II.

Murrow recruited a number of newsmen and women to CBS during his years as a correspondent, European news chief and executive. The "Boys" were his closest professional and personal associates. They also shared Murrow’s preference for incisive, thought-provoking coverage of public affairs, abroad and at home. They achieved nationwide fame, and inadvertently became early examples of "celebrity journalism" in the days of radio and early television news.

The journalists most often cited as Murrow’s Boys are those who worked for and with him covering the war for the CBS Radio Network, and who set the highest standards for radio and later TV journalism. Murrow recruited most of them, many of whom worked for the United Press. Their story is the subject of the 1996 book The Murrow Boys, by Stanley Cloud and Lynne Olson.

The nickname's origins are unclear. Cloud and Olson interviewed Janet Murrow and set out to determine who exactly fell under the definition of a "Murrow Boy." They primarily included those hired by or associated with Murrow during World War II, with some exceptions.

The original Boys, and some of their notable CBS beats during the war, included:

Of the original Boys, Hottelet would end up having the longest career at CBS, joining the network in 1944 and continuing to work at the network until 1985. He was the last surviving member of the original group.

The group maintained close ties with Murrow but not necessarily each other. They had significant autonomy in filing reports, and while they had been influential in developing the field of radio news broadcasting, they were reluctant to make the transition to television. The Murrow Boys earned far more working in radio than they could in television, and they resented the process of lights, cameras, makeup, and other aspects of TV broadcasting. By the 1950s their dominating presence in the field had begun to decline.

Despite this, many in the core group stayed with CBS throughout the 1950s. During the McCarthy era, Howard K. Smith, William L. Shirer, and Alexander Kendrick were among those named in the Red Channels.

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