This I Believe
| Genre | Scientific, philosophical investigation |
|---|---|
| Running time | 5-30 minutes |
| Country of origin |
United States Luxembourg Canada |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station |
CBS Radio Network (1951-1955) Radio Luxembourg (1956-1958) NPR (2005-2009) CBC Radio One (2007) |
| Syndicates | PRI (2009-present) |
| Hosted by |
Edward R. Murrow Dan Gediman Jay Allison Preston Manning |
| Created by | Edward R. Murrow |
| Directed by | Edward P. Morgan |
| Original release | 1951 – 2009 |
| Audio format | Stereophonic |
| Website | www |
This I Believe is a five-minute CBS Radio Network program, originally hosted by journalist Edward R. Murrow from 1951 to 1955. The show encourages both famous and everyday people to write short essays about their own personal motivation in life and then read them on the air. This I Believe became a cultural phenomenon that stressed individual belief rather than religious dogma. Its popularity both developed and waned within the era of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Cold War.
A half-hour European version of This I Believe ran from 1956 to 1958 over Radio Luxembourg. It has since been revived numerous times, first by Dan Gediman and Jay Allison on NPR from 2005-2009, and subsequently by Preston Manning on Canada's CBC Radio One in 2007. Essays that appear on the show are available free of charge at its website.
Since 2009, the original This I Believe programs have been syndicated as part of PRI's Bob Edwards Weekend.
The idea for This I Believe flowed from both the WWII broadcasting experiences of Edward R. Murrow (who had spent of the latter 1930s and most of 1940s in the United Kingdom and continental Europe), and the emerging Cold War hostility with the Soviet Union.
During Murrow's stay in London he had become a friend of the WWII British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (who had an American mother and British father), and this enabled him to introduce Churchill to William S. Paley, who was his boss at CBS. During WWII Paley spent much of his time in London working in the Psychological Warfare Branch of the Office of War Information (OWI), which included redirecting the transmitters of Radio Luxembourg following the liberation of the Grand Duchy, for use as a black propaganda station (Radio 1212). Meanwhile, Murrow had "covered the London air raids from the streets and rooftops ...went on 25 bombing missions over Germany and broadcast from a British minesweeper in World War II." (See TIME magazine, Monday, September 30, 1957: : This is Murrow) This close relationship between Murrow, Paley, CBS and the British Establishment led to an offer after the War for Murrow to become part of the editorial diarchy at the British Broadcasting Corporation, an offer that was not endorsed by the BBC Board of Directors.
...
Wikipedia