Morley Safer

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Morley Safer (2010)

Morley Safer (born November 8, 1931 in Toronto - † May 19, 2016 in New York City ) was a Canadian reporter and correspondent for the US television station CBS News .

Life

Journalism training

Safer attended Harbord Collegiate Institute and later graduated from the University of Western Ontario . His journalistic career began as a reporter for various newspapers in Canada and the UK . He later moved to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a correspondent and producer .

CBS

In 1964, Safer became a correspondent for CBS News in London . In 1965 he opened the CBS office in what was then Saigon (now: Ho Chi Minh City ) in Vietnam . As part of his work there, he accompanied a troop of USMC soldiers to a village called Cam Ne . When the marines got there, orders were given to evacuate the village. After the evacuation, the huts covered with palm fronds were set on fire using flamethrowers and Zippo lighters. According to Safer's description, the residents were exclusively harmless civilians, and the mission was planned from the outset as a " Search and Destroy ".

Safer's account of the action aired on the CBS news on August 5, 1966. It was the first sober account of the situation during the Vietnam War . President Johnson was enraged by this report. He called the President of CBS and accused Safer and his colleagues of "shitting the American flag." Convinced that Safer was a communist, Johnson ordered a security clearance. When told that Safer was “not a communist, just Canadian”, he reportedly replied “Well, I knew he wasn't an American”.

In 1967, Safer was appointed office manager in London. He held this post for three years. In 1970 he left London to work for the newscast, 60 Minutes . From then on, Safer was a correspondent for this show. In 1983, Safer's "Lenell Geter in Jail" report resulted in the release of Texan Lenell Geter, who was wrongly convicted of armed robbery . This success is considered one of the milestones of the show.

Others

Safer has written several books, including Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam . He lived in New York City and was married with one daughter.

Awards

Morley Safer 2015 with his third Peabody Award

Safer has received several awards for his journalistic work. The awards include:

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Morley Safer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Morley Safer Dead at 84
  2. ^ Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2005, Pacifica Radio / UC Berkeley Social Activism Sound Recording Project: Anti-Vietnam War Protests in the San Francisco Bay Area & Beyond
  3. Madsen, Axel. 60 Minutes: The Power and the Politics of America's Most Popular TV News Show. Dodd, Mead and Company: New York City, 1984