After Rick’s post earlier, I had to go pull this historical document out and scan it.

News stories focusing on the human element instead of abstract ideas is a very old practice that is sadly sometimes lacking these days. Perhaps if producers (and reporters) won’t heed a photog, maybe they’ll listen to Edward Murrow’s executive producer…

CBS does not have the 1952 version of “Christmas in Korea” online, but they do have the 1953 version here. If you look for a copy of Ed Murrow’s book “See it Now”, there is a transcript of the 1952 version in it along with photos that this memo references.

Murrow and Friendly would have never been able to pull this story off in 1952 if it wasn’t for the borrowed Hearst newsreel cameramen and soundmen they took with them.

In the words of Murrow of his ex-newsreel cameramen in September of 1955 (after they hired away a good number of Hearst Metrotone’s staff of course…):

“If there is any magic, it is a magic born of the resilience and skill of our four cameramen – Barnett, Mack, McClure, Rossi – who have learned the secret of staying on their feet thirty hours at a time in extreme temperatures, with one hundred pounds of equipment on their backs, without losing their sense of news, humor, or their focus.”

By the way, Friendly didn’t think microphones were anything to be ashamed of and hidden but mike flags were a “distraction.”

The memo itself should be embedded below.