Murray Fromson
Encyclopedia
Murray Fromson is a former CBS
correspondent and professor emeritus at University of Southern California
's School of Journalism
, and Center on Public Diplomacy
. He was educated in the Los Angeles Unified School District
, including Belmont High School
in Downtown Los Angeles
.
in 1956 to report the final departure of the French. Periodically over the next four decades he has observed the country at war and peace from the time of the U.S. involvement up through the early 21st century.
Both as a correspondent and producer, Fromson covered some of the major news events of the past half century, including the Korean
and Vietnam War
s, the Leonid Brezhnev
years of the former Soviet Union
, conflicts in Malaya
, Indonesia
, Burma, and developments in China
.
In early 1968, while reporting the Vietnam War
for CBS News
, Fromson was injured by rocket fire, during the battle for Khe Sanh
following the Tet Offensive. He then returned to the U.S. where he worked for CBS out of Chicago
.
In the United States
, he reported presidential politics, civil rights
, the anti-war movement, and the conspiracy trial in Chicago (the trial of the so-called "Chicago Seven
").
When the Richard Nixon
Justice Department threatened to subpoena
journalists' notes and television outtakes in the late 1960s, Fromson proposed the formation of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
.
He and his CBS
colleagues were awarded two Overseas Press Club
awards for their reporting on the fall of Saigon in 1975.
In the year 2000, he was named a fellow in the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy
at the John F. Kennedy School of Government
, a part of Harvard University
.
Center for International Journalism. The program recruited and trained more than 100 journalists specializing in reporting on Cuba
, Mexico
and other Latin American nations.
He was Director of USC's School of Journalism in the USC Annenberg School for Communication
for five years from 1994-99 when he stepped down to work on a memoir about the Cold War
.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
correspondent and professor emeritus at University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
's School of Journalism
USC Annenberg School for Communication
The USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism comprises a School ofCommunication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California . It is led by Dean Ernest J. Wilson III, Ph.D....
, and Center on Public Diplomacy
USC Center on Public Diplomacy
The University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy is a joint academic research, teaching and training center created and run jointly by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences' School of International Relations.Center leadership is...
. He was educated in the Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...
, including Belmont High School
Belmont High School (Los Angeles, California)
Belmont Senior High School is a public high school located at 1575 West 2nd Street in the Westlake community of Los Angeles, California. The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.-History:...
in Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
.
Journalist
Fromson first went to VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
in 1956 to report the final departure of the French. Periodically over the next four decades he has observed the country at war and peace from the time of the U.S. involvement up through the early 21st century.
Both as a correspondent and producer, Fromson covered some of the major news events of the past half century, including the Korean
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
s, the Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
years of the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, conflicts in Malaya
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Burma, and developments in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
In early 1968, while reporting the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
for CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
, Fromson was injured by rocket fire, during the battle for Khe Sanh
Khe Sanh
Khe Sanh is the district capital of Hướng Hoá District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, located 63 km west of Đông Hà.Khe Sanh Combat Base was a United States Marine Corps outpost in South Vietnam used during the Vietnam War. The airstrip was built in September 1962...
following the Tet Offensive. He then returned to the U.S. where he worked for CBS out of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, he reported presidential politics, civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, the anti-war movement, and the conspiracy trial in Chicago (the trial of the so-called "Chicago Seven
Chicago Seven
The Chicago Seven were seven defendants—Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner—charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to protests that took place in Chicago, Illinois on the occasion of the 1968...
").
When the Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
Justice Department threatened to subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
journalists' notes and television outtakes in the late 1960s, Fromson proposed the formation of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is an American nonprofit organization, founded in 1970, that provides free legal assistance to and on behalf of journalists. A number of prominent journalists presently sit on the organization's steering committee, including Dan Rather, and Judy...
.
He and his CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
colleagues were awarded two Overseas Press Club
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member...
awards for their reporting on the fall of Saigon in 1975.
In the year 2000, he was named a fellow in the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy
Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy
The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, named after Joan Shorenstein, explores the intersection of press, politics and public policy in theory and practice, striving to bridge the gap between journalists and scholars, and between them and the...
at the John F. Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
, a part of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Educator
Fromson joined USC’s journalism faculty in 1982 and soon founded and directed theCenter for International Journalism. The program recruited and trained more than 100 journalists specializing in reporting on Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and other Latin American nations.
He was Director of USC's School of Journalism in the USC Annenberg School for Communication
USC Annenberg School for Communication
The USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism comprises a School ofCommunication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California . It is led by Dean Ernest J. Wilson III, Ph.D....
for five years from 1994-99 when he stepped down to work on a memoir about the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
External links
- Murray Fromson's blog
- bio on USC Annenberg website
- about RCFP
- Video -- Murray Fromson: "From the Front Lines" USC Annenberg event, April 2006