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Broadcast Journalism Article Addition

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New Category: History of Broadcast Journalism

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When radio first became popular, it was not used as a source of information; rather, people listened to the radio solely for entertainment purposes.[1] This began to change with a man named Edward R. Murrow. Edward Murrow was an American who traveled to England in order to broadcast news about World War II. He stayed in London throughout the war and was the first to report on events such as bombings in London and updated the people on Hitler's reign. Murrow gained his fame mainly after reporting on Hitler's German army annexing Austria. Many Americans relied on his broadcasts throughout the war to gain information about the war.[2]

More people also began to reply on radio for information after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. People found out about the bombing through President Roosevelt's broadcast interrupting their daily programming. It set Americans on edge, and people began to rely more heavily on the radio for major announcements throughout World War II.[3] World War II was a time where radio broadcasting became a much larger industry because it was the easiest and quickest way for people to get updates on what was going on throughout the world.

Informative radio continued while television reporting also began to take flight. Throughout the 40's and 50's television news sources grew, but radio still dominated. It wasn't until John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963 that television newscasting took off. Radio could only capture the sound of the event, but television showed people the true horror of the assassination.[4] This was one of the first major events in which news companies competed with each other to get the news out to the public first. CBS News was the first to report that Kennedy had been shot and was killed. [5] News crews spent the next several days covering everything happening in Washington, including Kennedy's funeral.[6] This set the standard for news stations to have to cover major events quicker and get them out to the public as they were happening. The JFK assassination helped to transform television journalism to how it is today, with instantaneous coverage and live coverages at major events. Television offered faster coverage than radio and allowed viewers to feel more as if they were experiencing the event because they could visualize exactly what was going on.[7]

Both radio and television are still major sources for broadcast journalism today. Television still focuses on covering major events, but radio broadcasts focus more on analyzing stories rather than reporting breaking news.[8] The internet often beats out broadcast journalism in terms of reporting breaking news, and the field of broadcast journalism is constantly having to adapt to the changing technology of today.

  1. ^ "Edward R. Murrow: Inventing Broadcast Journalism". www.historynet.com. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  2. ^ "History of Broadcast Journalism". history.journalism.ku.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  3. ^ Pinheiro, Bob. "Radio Reports Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbor". www.modestoradiomuseum.org. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  4. ^ "12 Events that Triggered Media Coverage Evolution". The Balance. Retrieved 2016-10-30.
  5. ^ Sneed, Tierney (November 14, 2013). "How John F. Kennedy's Assassination Changed Television Forever". USNews.com. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  6. ^ "How the JFK assassination transformed media coverage". Reuters. 2016-11-21. Retrieved 2016-10-30.
  7. ^ "Television in the United States - The year of transition: 1959". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  8. ^ "Journalism Then and Now". Digital Journalism. 2011-11-06. Retrieved 2016-11-02.