Another Giant Leaves Our Midst

I haven't seen anyone else except CNN note the passing of Frank Stanton, the person responsible more than anyone else for the one time-legendary status of the broadcast journalism practiced by CBS News, personified of course by Edward R. Murrow, though there is a large group of people responsible for that as well.

The news professionals of "The Tiffany Network" would not have been able to practice their craft without Stanton watching their backs. An example is portrayed in "Good Night And Good Luck" where William Paley (Frank Langella) confronts Murrow (David Strathairn) and Fred Friendly (George Clooney, who also directed) over the Joseph McCarthy broadcast, and Murrow immediately tells Paley (who was a businessman above all else) that he didn't hear from Stanton that the program should not be aired, a factor which weighed heavily in Murrow's favor.

And by the way, you are given some indication in the CNN story how much the practice of journalism has suffered since the days that Stanton and news professionals of his type held sway when you read the incorrect sentence telling you that the McCarthy broadcast was aired as an episode of "Person To Person," a mistake so unbelievable that the author of the copy should be automatically required to enroll in a "History of Journalism" course (the McCarthy program was an episode of "See It Now").

Update: I should've checked the Philadelphia Inquirer a bit more - my bad.