Eric Sevareid Speculates What Elmer Davis Might Think About the Politics of the Day

The NYPR Archive Collections | Jan 1, 2000

CBS Broadcaster, Eric Sevareid speaks at the fourth annual Elmer Davis memorial lecture at Columbia University. He recounts how he met Davis and his reporting during WWII and the McCarthy era. Sevareid believes that today, viewers might see Davis as a "tired liberal" and speculates, if Davis were alive, how he might comment on the Vietnam war, protests and government. In light of recent criticism on the media from Vice President Spiro Agnew, Sevareid traces how reporting has changed since Davis' time and calls for journalists to remain objective in their reporting.


Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection


WNYC archives id: 151357
Municipal archives id: T7511

Be alert for scams. WNYC never asks for nor accepts money for coverage or interviews. Anyone making such a request does not represent WNYC.

Top Stories

Darializa Avila-Chevalier on Mamdani, ICE and the NYPD

Has MAGA Lost Faith in Donald Trump? Plus, Molly Fischer on Waymo

Watch: Test your news knowledge with Brian Lehrer

A Nobel Peace Prize Winner on the State of Press Freedom and Democracy

YOU ARE ONLINE