April 12, 2026

By Arthur H. Gunther III

thecolumnrule.com

In the news/media world, a long trail of light and understanding was cast by Edward R. Murrow, the CBS broadcaster/reporter of humble North Carolina roots who from a London rooftop captured the sounds and explosions of the 1940 Blitz. He was a principled journalist who could be counted on to report observations as well as facts. In a morphing age of misinformation and social media photo-copying of rumors beyond credibility, Murrow is missed, as are others of his ilk, such as Walter Cronkite and Charles Kuralt.

Watching a 1950s interview of Murrow with Ed Sullivan, who was also a newspaper columnist besides being an entertainer, the essence of the man was revealed. Murrow said his career was driven by the American Bill of Rights Due Process clause in the Fifth and 14th Amendments.

First, he tied that principle to the British House of Commons in 1940. He noted that even as London was being hit by German bombers during the terrible Blitz, with people and homes destroyed nightly, with residents huddled in subway stations, the House of Commons “spent two days debating the conditions under which enemy aliens were to be held on the Isle of Man. They were going to be sure there was no violation of the legal and human rights of individuals. …” Murrow applauded such due process.

Years later, during the Sen. Joseph McCarthy communist witch hunt, in his famous “Dear Brutus” speech of March 9, 1954, Murrow criticized the senator’s intimidation and unfounded accusations against individuals suspected of communism and said that these tactics threatened the erosion of civil liberties. He quoted Shakespeare, stating, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves,” to spotlight the responsibility of individuals to confront injustice and tyranny.

Murrow said in his T.V. address that “Conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.” Again the rights of humankind in a republic, a democracy.

We wonder what observation the principled journalist would offer today as too many in our land accept a detour of the American Experiment and join McCarthy doubles in denying due process to immigrants with civil violation; in jailing those who protest in “free speech;” in refusing to ask Congress, the representatives of the people, for a vote before the nation committed to war with Iran.

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”

The writer is a retired newspaperman.

-30-