Popular Culture Review Vol. 8, No. 2, August 1997 | Page 131

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that the Iraqis claimed was a baby formula factory, he was sharply
criticized by the Americans and their allied military, who said the
building was a chemical weapons facility. Arnett reported only
what he could see, hear and smell. He did not speculate. Some of his
critics had vested interests.
Accusations by politicians and soldiers were almost
understandable, if not forgivable. The criticisms which make the
least sense are the seemingly endless opinions emanating from the
print segment of the press. These journalistic cheap shots become
easier to put into perspective by going back to the first radio world
news roundup in 1938. Alexander Kendrick's biography of Murrow,
Prime Time, explained the significance of live reporting:
...Murrow and his colleagues had established three
clear advantages for radio over newspapers. They
were ahead of the newspapers by hours. They reached
millions of Americans in small towns who were not
otherwise exposed to foreign news in their local papers.
They "wrote their own headlines" by the selection of
material, and the fact that there was no editor or other
intermediary between them and their listeners.
(Kendrick, 168)
If these reporters didn't need an editor or intermediary
between them and the public, what did this portend for these
occupations? If newspapers were behind by hours, or even days, what
did this mean for their competitive survival? This assessment of
Murrow from Robert Landiy of Scribner's magazine in the winter of
1938 elaborated:
He has more influence upon America's reaction than a
shipful of newspapermen...network reporters and
Murrow in particular, both as bureau head and
prototype of the new breed: a power in his own right, a
newsman who could address a nationwide audience
directly - no editors, no rewriters, no headlines shoved
over his copy...a rising national figure with direct
access to the vast American public that was beyond the