After two days of research I concede that I was mistaken. Between “Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America” by John Earl Haynes & Harvey Klehr, “Treason” by Ann Coulter and several former-KGB officers telling reporters what they think they want to hear I failed to sift the facts from unproven rumors. I thank you for calling me on it, for it resparked my interest in the matter of Soviet influence during the Cold War. In one documentary a former officer chortled over the Francis Powers shoot-down and the following incident:
“One of the most prominent attacks on McCarthy's methods came in an episode of the TV documentary series See it Now, by respected journalist Edward R. Murrow , which was broadcast on March 9 , 1954 . Murrow's program was devoted to McCarthy's treatment of Annie Lee Moss, a clerk in the Pentagon code room. McCarthy claimed that she was a member of the Communist Party, and consequently should not be allowed to work in a sensitive Pentagon position. Moss was a very sympathetic figure, an elderly African American woman. When asked by McCarthy's committee about Karl Marx , she replied "Who's that?" She stated that there were three entries for "Annie Lee Moss" in the Washington, DC phone book, and suggested that the "Annie Lee Moss" appearing in the membership list of the Communist Party was somebody else, and the fact that this "Annie Lee Moss" was listed with her address was due to a mistake. She also received the Communist periodical The Daily Worker delivered to her house, but contended that this too was the result of a mistaken address. There was no other "Annie Lee Moss" listed in the phone book, but this fact was not checked at the time.
The Murrow report sparked off a nationwide popular opinion backlash against McCarthy, which the Senator tried to counter by appearing on the show himself. McCarthy appeared on See It Now about three weeks after the original episode, where he made a number of personal attacks and charges against Murrow. However, his method of delivery had been designed for a live audience, not a nationwide broadcast one; the result of this appearance was a further decline in his popularity.” That can be found at:
http://www.tutorgig.com/encyclopedia/getdefn.jsp?keywords=Joseph_McCarthy One of Free Republic’s members contributed this analysis:
“Ed Murrow of CBS was the first media hero. He lead the charge against McCarthy. He was the first to oppose McCarthy and lead the pack journalism that did Joe in. It was what made EDWARD R. MURROW the hero of the left. The media had been pretty right wing before. But when Ed came out of the closet, he did so just in time to attack Joe and win. Ed Murrow with the support of CBS owner Paley did it all with his little mic and big camera. Murrow loved the left and Paley wanted to make the point that print media no longer controlled public opinion. Paley wanted the political world to know that TV had public opinion in its back pocket. Prior to this time Politicians wold make TV and Radio reporters wait while they sucked up to the print media. After McCArthy fell, the print reporters had to ride in the back of the bus... TV was the new king of influence.” 22 posted on 06/26/2003 2:34:04 PM PDT by Common Tator
Which can be found at:
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/936183/posts Finally, the always-questionable NewsMax had this take on old Uncle Walter:
“Accuracy in Media has documented Cronkite’s pronounced liberal bias. During the Cold War, Cronkite repeatedly passed on Soviet disinformation about U.S. defense policies. He pronounced the "Soviet threat" a myth and told Soviet journalists that the American people were muddled in their thinking about the Cold War.
In 1999, Cronkite came out of the closet and exposed his leftist bias. AIM reported Cronkite’s call for a world government and for the U.S. to renounce "some of its sovereignty" in pursuit of that goal. He called for a revision of the veto procedures in the United Nations Security Council to prevent the United States from blocking actions intended to move toward world government.” Found at:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/4/10/23307.shtml While I was not correct, information is still being gleaned from various Soviet archives. I.F. Stone was a confirmed “fellow traveler” who purposely spread disinformation. Murrow was encouraged by Soviet sympathizers during his tenure in England to push for the United States involvement in WWII. He did that exceedingly well, though he was far more motivated by patriotism than seeing Stalin’s butt covered.
Thanks again. If you catch me goofing up again please don’t hesitate to jerk me up on it.
- NRT