Due to Circumstances Beyond Our Control…

Find this book at your local library.

Sometimes a book, though it’s of another era, brings the present into sharp relief. Due to Circumstances Beyond Our Control by Fred W. Friendly was a journalism text of mine in college. The book explores the dawn of television news. Friendly was president of CBS News from 1964 to 1966.

Prior to his management role, Friendly was paired with Edward R. Murrow as producer of “See It Now.” A news program devoted issues confronting the country and society.

Two of their most famous broadcasts concerned the senate hearings led by Joseph McCarthy, which weaponized cold war fears over communism into hysterical witch hunts ensnaring public servants, the entertainment industry and even Robert J. Oppenheimer.

The “See It Now” episode is credited with turning the tide against McCarthy’s crusade and shining a light on his questionable practices.

Much of the tension of that time is mirrored in our own political struggles for truth versus facetious showmanship.

The remaining chapters are a fascinating look into the growth of television as a medium, the tension between entertainment and news and shareholders versus viewers that exists today and is now fought on other platforms.

About the Author
Fred W. Friendly, who died in March 1997, was once described by Carl Sandburg as a man who “always looks as if had just got off a foam flecked horse.” He was born in New York City and began his broadcast career in 1938. After service in World War II, he met Edward R. Murrow. After resigning from CBS News amid the controversy over the network’s decision to air “I Love Lucy” reruns rather than senate hearings on the war in Vietnam, Friendly became a professor at Columbia University School of Journalism’s Graduate School of Journalism. He was also an advisor to the Ford Foundation where he championed public television.

Same Shelf
The Powers That Be (1979) by David Halberstam