Schorr leaves his legacy as our guide

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July 25, 2010

By JAMES BROWN Glasgow Daily Times The Glasgow Daily Times Sun Jul 25, 2010, 08:06 AM CDT

GLASGOW — On Friday, one of the greatest journalists of the last 100 years left us. Daniel Schorr, known by many now through his association and commentary on NPR, died. He was 93.

Schorr was not on my radar as a young journalist. I came to know his voice while traveling the backroads and highways of various states listening to NPR.

Schorr, like I think so many journalists, began his career by wanting to tell the stories no one else was. His first report was to provide information for his local Bronx newspaper on the fall of a woman from his apartment building.

After serving in the military, he became a foreign correspondent for CBS and told stories about everyday life behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union. His reporting circumvented the strict censorship policies of the USSR and he was not allowed to return after traveling to the states for a vacation.

In pursuit of performing the highest duties of the journalist — that being a watchdog for the people by keeping an eye on government — led him into conflict with the Nixon Administration. He doggedly pursued the Watergate story on air and landed on the infamous Nixon enemies list, which he read aloud during a news broadcast.

Not all journalists have the ambition to follow in the footsteps of Daniel Schorr or Glasgow native Arthur Krock, both of whom affected how our national government functioned by recording the facts and reporting the issues. Neither favored a political party or a specific point of view. They each offered their analysis with facts that supported the commentary.

Certainly, they each had their political leanings, but I couldn’t tell you what they were. There are those who can. Whatever their leanings, they weren’t evident in their journalistic accounts of the items of their day.

We seem to have short supply of people who offer unbiased analysis of the events of our times. We also seem to have a short supply of people who want to hear a well-rounded story. Or who want to hear differing points of view on a subject so that they can draw their own conclusions.

I will miss Schorr’s Saturday morning roundup of the week in news and his take on events of our times.

James Brown is editor of the Daily Times. He can be reached by e-mail at jbrown@glasgowdailytimes.com.

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