Douglas Edwards

Douglas Edwards
Edwards on the set of Douglas Edwards With the News(1952)
Born	Clyde Douglas Edwards (1917-07-14)July 14, 1917 Ada, Oklahoma,U.S.
Died	October 13, 1990(1990-10-13)(aged 73) Sarasota, Florida,U.S.
Occupation(s)	Television and radio broadcaster, news anchor, correspondent,copy editor
Years active	1942–1988
Spouses	May Hamilton Dunbar (m. 1966-1990; his death) Sara Belle Byrd (m. 1939-div.1965)

Douglas Edwards(July 14, 1917 – October 13, 1990) was an American radio and television newscaster and correspondent who worked for theColumbia Broadcasting System(CBS) for more than four decades. After six years onCBS Radioin the 1940s, Edwards was among the first major broadcast journalists to move into the rapidly expanding medium of television. He is also generally recognized as the first presenter or "anchor"of a nationally televised, regularly scheduled newscast by an American network. Edwards presented news on CBS television every weeknight for 15 years, from March 20, 1947, until April 16, 1962.Initially aired as a 15-minute program under the titleCBS Television News,the broadcast evolved into theCBS Evening Newsand in 1963 expanded to a 30-minute format underWalter Cronkite,who succeeded Edwards as anchor of the newscast. Although Edwards left the evening news in 1962, he continued to work for CBS for another quarter of a century, presenting news reports on both radio and daytime television, and editing news features, until his retirement from the network on April 1, 1988.

Early life and radio career

Born in Ada, Oklahoma in 1917, Edwards was the only child of Alice (née Donaldson) and Tony M. Edwards, both of whom were public school teachers.His mother had been married previously, but her first husband died in 1906 fromtyphoid fever.As a result of that earlier marriage, Edwards grew up with a half-brother, John W. Moore, who was 12 years older.Tragically, Alice also lost her second husband to disease. When Edwards was an infant, his father died ofsmallpox.Now twice-widowed, Alice continued teaching to support herself and her two sons. By 1930, however, she left Oklahoma and moved with Edwards and John to New Mexico for a better teaching position, one as an instructor at anormal schoolinSilver City.Edwards lived in Silver City for only two years, but during that time he developed a keen interest in radio technology and programming.Using a smallcrystal radioset that he acquired, Edwards began to monitor each day a wide range of regular broadcasts and special events, a routine made easier by Silver City's high elevation, which allowed him to tune in to distant stations transmitting from Los Angeles, Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and elsewhere. "What an experience that was", he recalled in a later interview, "transfixed by broadcasts I could bring in from faraway places."

First broadcast experience, 1932

In 1932, Douglas moved with his mother to southeastern Alabama, where she had accepted a job as a school principal in the town ofTroy.Half-brother John, now 26 years old, chose to remain in New Mexico. Douglas spent his teenage years in Troy and continued his radio hobby, which he still regarded as a "new world", still "mesmerizing".Martin Weil, a staff writer forThe Washington Postwho compiled a biography on Edwards and wrote the newscaster's 1990 obituary for the newspaper, described the teenager's ongoing fascination with the medium:

Radio played an important role in his early years. He spent hours listening and by the age of 12 was reading newspaper stories into a telephone mouthpiece. At 15, he went on the air on a 100-watt station that older friends had patched together.

At Troy's small, makeshift radio station in 1932, the teenage Edwards was paid $2.50 a week to be a "junior announcer", adisc jockey,and to fill any lapses during broadcasts by reading poetry and even singing occasionally. Describing those formative days on radio decades later, Edwards said he found the experience thrilling, although he admitted he did not sing well, adding "but I got by, got fan mail, and the ego was nourished."

College years and hiring by CBS, 1942

Following his graduation from high school, Edwards managed to enroll briefly at theUniversity of Alabamato takepre-medcourses and then attended evening classes onjournalismat theUniversity of Georgiaand atEmory Universityin Atlanta before abandoning his hopes for a college degree due to a lack of money amidst theGreat Depression.He nevertheless remained intent on working in radio, and between 1935 and 1940, he found employment, first at a small station inDothan, Alabama;then atWSBinAtlanta;and next, much farther north in Michigan, atWXYZinDetroit,where he served as a newscaster and announcer.In 1942, shortly after returning to Atlanta to work as an assistant news editor at WSB, he accepted an offer fromCBS Radioto move to New York to be an assistant announcer and understudy to journalistJohn Charles Daly,the presenter of the network's nightly 15-minute news programThe World Today.When Daly was reassigned by CBS as a war correspondent and sent overseas the following year, Edwards was promoted as his replacement onThe World Today,as well as host of the Sunday afternoon programWorld News Todayand of the Sunday night programReport to the Nation.Two years later, Edwards was also dispatched overseas, to London, to cover the final weeks ofWorld War IIwith CBS foreign correspondentEdward R. Murrow.At the end of the conflict in Europe in May 1945, Edwards was then appointed the network's news bureau chief in Paris and assigned to cover post-war elections in Germany and the start of theNuremberg trials.

Anchor for televised CBS newscasts, 1947-1962

Edwards onDouglas Edwards With the News,which premiered in 1950

Edwards returned to the United States from his overseas radio assignments in May 1946.By 1947, as CBS's top correspondents and commentators continued to shun the fledgling medium of television, Edwards was chosen by network executives to work with directorDon Hewittin presenting a televised news program every weeknight and to host CBS's televised coverage of the 1948 Democratic and Republican national conventions.While Edwards served as "anchor" of the programs, that term was actually not used within the context of newscasting, at least not consistently, until 1952, when CBS News chief Sig Mickelson reportedly applied it in describingWalter Cronkite's role in the network's political convention coverage.Such news terminology developed quickly in those early days of broadcasting daily news on television, a time fraught with uncertainties not only about the technologies required to present reports in a visual medium, but also about the most effective means of delivering those reports to viewers. Edwards' friends and CBS colleagues in the late 1940s were quick to suggest ways he could make his reports more interesting to his audience. "I remember", he stated years later, "guys coming up with brainstorms like wanting me to wear a football helmet to report the football scores."

In viewership ratings, Edwards' newscasts were soon eclipsed byNBC Newswith itsCamel News Caravanpresented byJohn Cameron Swayze.CBS, though, quickly regained its lead due in no small part to Edwards' ongoing efforts to cover major events personally. Among the many news stories that Edwards covered in those years in the dual role of newscaster-reporter were his trip to theNorth Polein 1949, the attempted assassination ofHarry S. Trumanin November 1950, and the coronation ofElizabeth IIin June 1953. He also reported on cultural events such as theMiss America Pageant(five times). The nightly 15-minuteDouglas Edwards with the Newswas watched by nearly 30 million viewers by the mid-1950s, as the newscaster continued his practice of periodically covering major new stories himself.In July 1956, while stationed on a helicopter hovering over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Massachusetts, Edwards reported the sinking of theSS Andrea Doria,on-site coverage that received widespread public attention and critical praise.Despite such efforts and positive reactions to his stories, viewership of Edwards' televised newscasts began to decline by the late 1950s as NBC's newHuntley-Brinkley Report—CBS News' chief competitor—began to attract increasingly larger audiences.

Edwards' last televised evening newscast aired on April 13, 1962The following Monday, on April 16, Walter Cronkite officially replaced him as anchor of the telecast. The next year, on September 2, 1963, the program was retitledCBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.It was also rescheduled to broadcast at 6:30 p.m. instead of its normal 7:30 time slot, and its 15-minute format was expanded to 30 minutes, a change that made it the first half-hour weeknight news show on American television.

Continuing work for CBS, 1962-1988

Edwards' departure fromCBS Evening Newsdid not end his work for the network either on television or radio. For several years, both during his time as network anchor and afterwards, he anchored the local late news team onWCBS-TV,channel 2, the network's flagship station in New York City.He continued to presentThe World Tonighton CBS Radio, and from April 1962 into the 1980s, he presented five-minute weekday national television reports:The CBS Afternoon News with Douglas Edwards,and later, after schedule adjustments,The CBS Mid-Day News with Douglas Edwards,followed byThe CBS Mid-Morning News with Douglas Edwards.Beginning in 1979, he hosted the CBS Sunday morning news and talk show seriesFor Our Times,and in 1987 he served as co-anchor withFaith DanielsforCBS Morning News.Edwards continued until his retirement On April 1, 1988, to anchorNewsbreak,a televised 74-second weekday segment that highlighted the day's top news stories.

Edwards at home in 1955 with his three children: (from left) Lynn, Donna and Bobby)

After he retired from CBS, Edwards and his wife May left their home inNew Canaan, Connecticut,and relocated toSarasota, Florida.Six months later, on October 30, 1988, he returned to radio to perform as himself inNational Public Radio'sre-creationofOrson Welles' 1938 CBS broadcast ofThe War of the Worlds.Directed byDavid Ossman,a member of theFiresign Theatertroupe, the NPR production aired exactly 50 years after Welles' original radio presentation. It featured, in addition to Edwards, actorJason Robards,comic writer and musicianSteve Allen,and various NPR announcers.

Personal life and death

Edwards married twice. On August 29, 1939, he wed Sara Belle Byrd, a native of North Carolina and a resident of Atlanta when Edwards resided in Georgia for several years.The couple divorced after 26 years together, during which time they had three children: Lynn Alice, Robert Anthony, and Donna Claire.Then, on May 10, 1966, Edwards married May Hamilton Dunbar inSan Francisco,California. He and May remained together until his death.

In 1990, at age 73, Edwards died ofbladder cancerat his home in Sarasota, Florida.Following a memorial service at the Church of the Palms in Sarasota, Edwards's body was cremated.

Legacy and accolades

Many of Edwards' early CBS radio and televised newscasts are preserved, including his World War II anchoring ofWorld News Today,broadcasts onD-Day,and his coverage of the sinking of theAndrea Doria.

Edwards anchored the live five-minute segmentThe CBS Afternoon Newsfive afternoons a week between 1962 and 1966. He began the segment immediately after the broadcast of theGoodson-Todmangame showTo Tell the Truth.Every moment ofThe CBS Afternoon Newswas lost due towiping.

For Edwards' decades of contributions to broadcast journalism, he received numerous awards and accolades from colleagues and professional organizations:

• 1952 Recipient of the Certificate of Merit fromTV Guidefor readers' poll as the East Coast's "favorite network newscaster"
• 1952 Recipient of the "Mike and Screen Press Award" from the Radio-Newsreel-Television Working Press Association for his coverage of theMissouri Riverfloods
• 1955 Nominee forEmmy Awardas "Best News Reporter or News Commentator for the Year 1954"
• 1955 Top selection inTV Radio Mirrorreaders' poll as "Favorite News Commentator"
• 1956 Recipient of theGeorge Foster Peabody Awardfor distinguished achievement in television journalism for "Outstanding News Program, 1955"
• 1956 Nominee for Emmy Award for "Best News Reporter or News Commentator for the Year 1955"
• 1956 Recipient of the Hamilton Time Award for his "objective and dramatic presentation of the news of the world"
• 1958 Top selection inTV Radio Mirrorreaders' poll as "Favorite News Commentator"
• 1960Douglas Edwards with the Newsnominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of News"
• 1961 Recipient of the Big Red Apple Award fromSan Jose State Collegefor meritorious service in American journalism
• 1961 Recipient of a special service award from theAnti-Defamation LeagueofB'nai B'rith
• 1961Douglas Edwards with the Newsnominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of News"
• 1975 Recipient of the first Freedom of Speech Award presented by theGeorgia Association of Broadcasters
• 1982 Recipient of the Broadcasting Service Award from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at theUniversity of Georgia
• 1982 Recipient of the Gold Mike Award for broadcast achievement at the CBS Radio Network Affiliates Convention
• 1986 Recipient of the Lowell Thomas Award fromMarist Collegefor outstanding broadcast journalism
• 1986 Inductee to the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame
• 1987 Recipient of the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Award
• 1988 Recipient of thePaul WhiteAward from theRadio Television Digital News Association
• 2006 Inductee to theNational Radio Hall of Fame

External links

• MetaCafe: "Flight of Sputnik I,"CBS News (Douglas Edwards reporting), 2 October 1957
• Douglas Edwards' farewell CBS Newsbreak newscast on April 1, 1988onYouTube
• Edward's farewell World Tonight radio broadcast on April 1, 1988
• NPR's 1988War of the Worldsbroadcastwith Edwards coming in at about 26:03.
• Douglas Edwards Archives at St. Bonaventure University