Product Description

Fred Friendly (1915-1998) was the single most important personality in news and public affairs programming during the first four decades of American television. Portrayed by George Clooney in the film Good Night and Good Luck, Friendly, together with Edward R. Murrow, invented the television documentary format and subsequently oversaw the birth of public television. Juggling the roles of producer, policy maker, and teacher, Friendly had an unprecedented impact on the development of CBS in its heyday, wielded extensive influence at the Ford Foundation under the presidency of McGeorge Bundy, and trained a generation of journalists at Columbia University during a tumultuous period of student revolt.

Ralph Engelman's biography is the first comprehensive account of Friendly's life and work. Known as a "brilliant monster," Friendly stood at the center of television's unique response to McCarthyism, Watergate, and the Vietnam War, and the pitched battles he fought continue to resonate in the troubled world of television news. Engelman's fascinating psychological portrait explores the sources of Friendly's legendary rage and his extraordinary achievement. Drawing on private papers and interviews with colleagues, family members, and friends, Friendlyvision is the definitive story of broadcast journalism's infamous "wild man," providing a crucial perspective on the past and future character of American journalism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #659066 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-10
• Released on: 2009-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 440 pages

From Booklist
Friendly is the man who brought Edward R. Murrow into television and later developed the Public Broadcasting System, putting his huge fingerprints on American television in its first 40 years. Journalism scholar Engelman chronicles the life and career of this volatile man, whose memory elicited strong emotions in colleagues interviewed for the book. Although Murrow and Friendly gained heroic status for standing up to McCarthyism, Engelman notes that the pair were late in challenging the rabid anti-communism that put many colleagues on a blacklist. Together, Friendly and Murrow burnished CBS Reports into a major news feature. Friendly’s incendiary temper, challenging CBS corporate heads over coverage of the Vietnam War, led to his departure. But it moved him on to head the Ford Foundation, where he realized an old dream of a public-supported television network. Friendly later went on to the Columbia University journalism school, where he insisted on recruiting more minorities into television. A big man with a big ego, Friendly was so passionate and visionary that his ideals came to be known as Friendlyvision. --Vanessa Bush

Review

"[A] complex, rewarding portrait of one of network television's most memorable figures." -- James Boylan, Columbia Journalism Review

"A substantial and useful study of the underknown pioneer whose conviction and energy did much to shape the content and character of American broadcast journalism." -- Kirkus Reviews

"A revelation... Mr. Engelman ably brings [Fred Friendly] to life." -- J. Max Robins, Wall Street Journal

"Richly detailed... The book opens a singular window on an important vision that Friendly shared with others... Recommended." -- Choice

Review

"Broadcast news might have been saved if we had figured out how to clone Fred Friendly. Read this book and you'll understand the gruff, restless, brilliant, temperamental, and driven giant of a man who fought to make the vast wasteland safe for journalism." -- Bill Moyers, award-winning journalist and public commentator