[78-L] Norman Corwin^

[Michael Biel]

From: soundthink at aol.com
> I did get a chance to ask Corwin about the preponderance of demagogic
> television broadcasts that masquerade as news shows: i.e. Hannity and
> O'Reilly on the right and Olbermann and Maddow, Hardball, etc. on the left.
> He said that a lot of people get fooled by those shows; that they are
> masquerading as newscasts, but he couched this by saying that we still
> have a first amendment and that there is a blurring between news,
> partisan politics, and entertainment- it's a caveat emptor situation
> when people choose to use local television newscasts or Rush Limbaugh
> to get their "news."   Cary Ginell

Of course that could also be said of many of the great news commentators
of the Old Time Radio days of Fulton Lewis, Jr. on the right and some
would (and did) say Edward R. Murrow on the left.  And Gabriel Heatter,
H.V. Kaltenborn, Elmer Davis, William L. Shirer, and (heaven help us)
even Walter Winchell.  What is different is that back then, with the
possible exception of Winchell, these commentators did not comment on
and lie about their competitor commentators' opinions and veracity!  In
the U.S. during the 20th century we developed an expectation that the
news pages of the newspapers -- and therefore the newscasts of
broadcasters -- were to be unbiased, but the editorial pages and words
of commentators are expected to be biased and would be labeled as such. 
This is not necessarily true in many other countries where there are
Labour Party papers, and Conservative Party papers, and Liberal Party
papers, and Socialist Party papers, etc. etc. and people expect the news
pages to express their values.  Rupert Murdoch comes from that
background, and feels it natural for his papers and his "news" network
to express a philosophy rather than be neutral.  But what is also
different is that in the past it was expected that all editorials and
commentaries be based on FACT and truth.  Murdoch has expressly said
that the opinions of commentators on his network and papers are their
own opinions and thus do not have to be based on fact nor truth.  (This
is part of the interview Brian Lamb did of Murdoch on C-SPAN, and it is
on their web site if you need proof.)  I know of no other news
organization which would tolerate opinion and comment that could not be
verified with facts, and THAT is what makes today's situation different
from the days of yore.       

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com



From: "Taylor Bowie" <bowiebks at isomedia.com>
> Corwin has always been interested and involved in electoral politics. He 
> produced and directed a show for the Democratic Party on election night, 
> 1944, which is one of the most remarkable broadcasts I have ever heard.

From: Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com>
More accurately. it was election eve, which was the night before
election day, not election night which is the night of election returns.
 I do a weekly broadcast on YesterdayUSA.com on Sunday evenings at 11:30
eastern with a mutual friend of Frank Brezee, Walden Hughes, and two
weeks ago Walden aired that 1944 Corwin program after my section. It's
the first time I had sat down and listened to it, and it was
interesting. During my section I mentioned having two home recorded
segments of a similar program the Republicans did in 1948 on election
eve, "The Dewey-Warren Bandwagon." One of the segments I have of that
all-star program has Frank Morgan. Maybe I'll play it the week of the
inauguration. 

> It's great that he is still around and still contributing to the public 
dialogue.

In December 2001 YesterdayUSA had Corwin on to discuss the 60th anniv of
his greatest program "We Hold These Truths" (which we played) which is
the commemoration of the 150th anniv of The Bill of Rights. I mentioned
to Corwin when I played it in my Broadcast History classes I remind them
afterwards that at the same time this program was on, the federal govn't
was laying out the plans of the interment of the Japanese in America,
including U.S. citizens. He agreed that it was a shameful period and
that there were a few -- a VERY few -- who were brave enough to speak
out against it. I asked him if he saw the parallels between the media
of WW II and the jingoistic coverage we were getting at that time in the
months after 9/11 and he agreed that we do have to be careful. Frank
and Walden had him on again for his most recent birthday earlier this
year but technical difficulties prevented me from joining them. I wish
I had a chance to be at that evening and discus
s the recent media with
him. Maybe I'll bring this up with Walden on the broadcast tonight.

> Many thanks to Cary for the report...it must have been a great evening.
> Taylor B

I'll check with Walden to see if Frank has a tape and could play it on
his evenings with Walden.

Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <soundthink at aol.com>
> > Just got back from an evening with Norman Corwin at the Thousand Oaks 
> > Library. Corwin was there with Martin Kaplan, the director of the Norman 
> > Lear Center at USC (Lear himself was in the audience as well and took a 
> > bow). Corwin is "98 1/2" (as he put it) and although frail (he walks with 
> > a walker), his voice is strong and still recognizable; His brain, thank 
> > goodness, is still razor sharp, and he spoke eloquently, if haltingly. He 
> > said he was grateful and optimistic, thanks to the recent election, that 
> > America is on the right track again, as he "recedes into the shadows" (a 
> > particularly poetic thing to say by one of any age). He still champions 
> > America, asking rhetorically "what other country?produced writers like 
> > Walt Whitman and Mark Twain?" He and Kaplan talked about how entertainment 
> > is the force that drives American society, and that entertainment has 
> > invaded?politics, news, and all other aspects of our daily life. The Lear 
> > Center studies this effect, and has been able to predict the politics of
> > an individual by what they watch on TV and, in many cases, what they eat.
> > It was a fascinating but all-too-short discussion.

> > Corwin graciously autographed?my 12" 78 album of "On a Note of Triumph" 
> > (he just wrote his name and "2008"). We did talk about Studs Terkel 
> > briefly; he had worked with him and considered him a great friend and a 
> > wonderful writer.
> >
> > Incidentally, sitting next to me in the front row was Frank Bresee, whose 
> > library of radio shows is housed at the Thousand Oaks Library along with 
> > the archives of Corwin and Rudy Vallee, among other
s.
> >
> > There aren't many legends of radio left, but it's nice to see that Norman 
> > Corwin is still aware of and acutely interested in our world and where it 
> > is going. > > Cary Ginell