Morley Safer
Morley Safer was a prominent Canadian-American journalist, best known for his extensive work as a correspondent for CBS News and his long tenure on the investigative journalism program *60 Minutes*. Born on November 8, 1931, in Toronto, Ontario, Safer's early education took place in Canada before he began his journalism career at various newspapers and wire services. He gained significant recognition for his reporting during the Vietnam War, including a groundbreaking piece that showcased the devastating impact of war on civilians, which played a pivotal role in shifting public perception of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Over his career, Safer covered major global events and issues, earning numerous accolades, including multiple Emmy Awards and George Foster Peabody Awards. He was also involved in television and film beyond reporting, making appearances in popular shows and documentaries. Safer authored the book *Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam*, reflecting on his experiences in the war. He retired in May 2016 after an illustrious career spanning over four decades with CBS, shortly before his passing on May 19, 2016, at the age of 84. He is remembered not only for his journalistic contributions but also for his artistic pursuits and dedication to storytelling.
Subject Terms
Morley Safer
Journalist
- Born: November 8, 1931
- Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario
- Died: May 19, 2016
- Place of death: New York, New York
Contribution: Morley Safer was a Canadian broadcast journalist most famous for being a correspondent on the CBS television news program 60 Minutes, a show he began working on in December 1970. In a news-reporting career that spanned sixty-plus years, Safer was the recipient of twelve Emmy Awards, among other notable accolades.
Early Life and Education
Morley Safer was born on November 8, 1931, in Toronto, Ontario, to Max Safer and Anna Cohn Safer. He was educated at the Harbord Collegiate Institute and the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.
Career
Safer started his career in journalism by working with a number of small newspapers and wire services in Canada and England before landing a correspondent position with the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC). In April 1964, Safer became a correspondent for CBS News in the London bureau. In 1965, he opened the Saigon bureau for CBS News and served two tours of duty in Vietnam. After he returned to London, he became the CBS London bureau chief in 1967. While based in London, he covered stories in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Safer left the London bureau in 1970 to become a correspondent for 60 Minutes. He became the show’s premier documentary reporter; the 2015–16 season marked his forty-sixth year with the show, from which he was semi-retired.
In 1965, while in Vietnam, he produced a piece that was aired on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, in which he showed US Marines burning the village of Cam Ne. This piece was pivotal in changing war reporting and eroded public support for US involvement in Vietnam. Safer gave the American people an image of war that was previously unavailable to civilians. This led to President Lyndon B. Johnson's call to have Safer censored. In 1981, Safer was interviewed for the documentary Vietnam: Chronicle of a War.
In 1983, Safer produced the investigative report “Lenell Geter’s in Jail,” which led to the release of an engineer who was wrongly imprisoned for armed robbery. He won three awards for this broadcast. The report “School for the Homeless,” which was aired in 2001, also won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism award.
Besides reporting, Safer also appeared on television shows and in film. He had a cameo in 1993 on the television comedy Murphy Brown, played himself in the 2010 movie Morning Glory, and made appearances in several documentaries, including An Unlikely Weapon in 2008, A Man without a Country and Portrait of Wally in 2012, The Sturgeon Queens in 2014, and Being Canadian in 2015. In 2014, he even appeared as himself on an episode of the popular Netflix original political drama House of Cards, interviewing Kevin Spacey's character, Frank Underwood. He also wrote the book Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam, which was published in 1990.
Safer was the recipient of many prestigious awards for his reporting—notably, a dozen Emmy Awards, including a lifetime achievement Emmy, and three Overseas Press Club awards. Safer was also the recipient of five George Foster Peabody Awards, which recognize excellence in television and radio broadcasting. In May 2009 Quinnipiac University awarded him the Fred Friendly Award, an honor especially meaningful to him as Friendly had been his first supervisor at CBS. That same year his papers, photographs, and videos were accepted into the Briscoe Center for American History archives at the University of Texas at Austin.
CBS announced that Safer was officially retiring on May 11, 2016, airing an hour-long special honoring his lengthy career, especially as the longest-serving correspondent for 60 Minutes. By that point, although he had expressed that he never actually enjoyed being in front of the camera, he had logged more than nine hundred reports for the TV news magazine program, with his last profiling Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. Other reports included those covering contemporary art, a profile of Vogue editor Anna Wintour, and an interview with Ruth Madoff.
Just over a week after his retirement, Safer's wife reported that her husband had passed away at his home in Manhattan on May 19, 2016, at the age of eighty-four. She cited the cause of death as pneumonia. In addition to his wife, he was survived by his daughter, Sarah, a brother and sister, and three grandchildren.
Personal Life
Safer married anthropologist Jane Fearer in 1968 and raised one daughter, Sarah.
Safer enjoyed creating artwork in his spare time and pursued some artistic training at the American Academy in Rome. He was also a member of Manhattan’s exclusive Century Association.
Principal Works
60 Minutes, 1970–2016
An Unlikely Weapon, 2008
A Man without a Country, 2012
Portrait of Wally, 2012
The Sturgeon Queens, 2014
Being Canadian, 2015
Bibliography
Associated Press. “Morley Safer Creates Artwork For 60 Minutes Anniversary.” Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 2 Oct. 2008. Web. 2 Aug. 2013.
Barbaro, Michael. “In Club’s Rift, Morley Safer Minced No Words.” New York Times. New York Times, 15 Feb. 2011. Web. 2 Aug. 2013.
Boucher, Brian. “Morley Safer Will Take on the Art Market on Sunday.” Art in America. Art in America Magazine, 30 Mar. 2012. Web. 2 Aug. 2013.
“Broadcast Journalist Morley Safer Donates Papers to Briscoe Center.” Briscoe Center for American History. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, U of Texas at Austin, 12 Nov. 2009. Web. 2 Aug. 2013.
Huff, Richard. “60 Minutes Star Morley Safer Wins Fred Friendly Award.” NY Daily News. NYDailyNews.com, 19 May 2009. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.
McFadden, Robert D. "Morley Safer, Mainstay of 60 Minutes, Is Dead at 84." New York Times. New York Times, 19 May 2016. Web. 1 June 2016.
“Morley Safer.” 60 Minutes. CBS News, 9 July 1998. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.
“Morley Safer of CBS to Receive University’s First Welles Hangen Award.” Brown University News Service. Brown U, 19 May 1993. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.
"60 Minutes' Morley Safer Dies at 84." CBS News. CBS Interactive, 19 May 2016. Web. 1 June 2016.
Smith, Roberta. “Critic’s Notebook: Safer Looks at Art but Only Hears the Cash Register.” New York Times. New York Times, 3 Apr. 2012. Web. 2 Aug. 2013.