Daniel Schorr

Journalist

• Born: August 31, 1916
• Birthplace: New York, New York
• Died: July 23, 2010
• Place of death: Washington, D. C.

A tireless investigative journalist, Schorr defended the right of reporters to protect their sources on First Amendment grounds.

Early Life

Daniel Schorr (shor) was born in were chosen in 1916. Schorr’s father, Gedaliah Tchornemoretz, had his name changed to Louis Schorr by an immigration officer when he arrived in the United States from Belarus in 1914. His father held a variety of jobs, including waiter, store owner, and real estate broker. He died in 1922, shortly after Schorr’s sixth birthday. His mother, Tillie Godiner, ran a bakery and later worked in a dress factory.

Fulfilling a promise to his father, Schorr attended the College of the City of New York. His graduation in 1939 was delayed by two years, however, because he had already begun working as a stringer (a freelance journalist) for the Jewish Daily Bulletin, a newspaper that focused on stories particularly relevant to the Jewish community. This first journalistic experience occupied so much of his time he had to finish his degree by switching to night school.

When the Jewish Daily Bulletin folded, Schorr continued working for a news organization with a largely Jewish audience, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, where he eventually became assistant editor by 1939. He then worked for William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal-American in 1940 and ANETA (the Dutch news agency of Indonesia) as the New York news editor from 1941 to 1943.

For the next two years, from 1943 to 1945, Schorr served in the United States Army during World War II. After the war, he returned to ANETA until 1948, when he began working as a freelance journalist. His story on flooding in the Netherlands brought his work to the attention of Edward R. Murrow, who recruited Schorr to join the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) News and the group that would become known as “Murrow’s boys” in 1953.

Life’s Work

Schorr began building his national reputation as a journalist with his connection to CBS News. His first position was as a correspondent in Latin America and Europe; he was assigned a variety of stories covering news from Europe and the United States. His 1962 documentary on life in East Germany, “The Land Beyond the Wall,” increased his stature as a reporter. When he was appointed Washington correspondent for CBS in 1966, he became a familiar face to many Americans. Schorr’s reputation as an investigative journalist was heightened during the administration of Richard Nixon, where Schorr’s aggressive reporting landed him on Nixon’s “enemies list.” Schorr won Emmy Awards in 1972, 1973, and 1974 for his work on Watergate, the scandal that led to Nixon’s resignation. During this period of his career, Schorr also began a family: He married Lisbeth Bamberger in 1967, and the couple became parents to two children, Jonathan and Lisa.

Schorr left CBS in 1977, following his decision to reveal the contents of a report on illegal activities by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The document, written by the special congressional Pike Committee, was suppressed by the United States House of Representatives. Schorr was called to testify before the House Ethics Committee and was asked to reveal his sources, a demand with which he refused to comply on First Amendment grounds. Because of his refusal, the management of CBS pressured Schorr to submit a letter of resignation.

After leaving CBS, Schorr briefly taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and then returned to journalism, writing columns for the Des Moines Register-Tribune Syndicate. Schorr returned to television in 1980 when he was asked by Ted Turner to help launch the Cable News Network, where he worked as the senior Washington correspondent. In 1985, he moved to radio as a senior analyst for National Public Radio (NPR).

Schorr’s career as a reporter led to several honors. He was inducted into the Society of Professional Journalists’ Hall of Fame in 1991 and received a George Foster Peabody Award in 1992. Perhaps most significant, he was given the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Golden Baton for his exceptional career of reporting, a honor that is regarded as equal to the Pulitzer Prize, in 1996. In 2002, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Schorr died in Washington, D.C., on July 23, 2010, after a short illness.

Significance

Schorr set high standards for journalistic excellence through his reporting in print and on radio and television programs. His principled position on the First Amendment and on the right of reporters to protect confidential sources remains the highest example of journalistic ethics and is at the center of a free press. Schorr is an important commentator on political events in the United States, and his role as a senior member of the profession of journalism gives him an important perspective on how reporting news has changed during the past seven decades.

Bibliography

Goodman, Walter. Review of Staying Tuned: A Life in Journalism, by Daniel Schorr. Columbia Journalism Review 40, no. 1 (May, 2001): 78. A brief but valuable review of Schorr’s memoir that criticizes some of Schorr’s claims regarding journalistic ethics.

Schorr, Daniel. Clearing the Air. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1977. Schorr’s most immediate and detailed account of his dispute with CBS News over the Pike Committee report and his subsequent resignation.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Come to Think of It: Notes on the Turn of the Millennium. New York: Penguin, 2007. A collection of essays from Schorr’s NPR commentaries, including his opinions on both Gulf Wars. A good resource for understanding Schorr’s current views on politics.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Staying Tuned: A Life in Journalism. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001. A complete memoir of Schorr’s life and work, discussing not only his career in journalism but also the role of family and faith in his life.