Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Sept 6, 2014 7:45:31 GMT -6
variety.com/2014/tv/news/veteran-cbs-cnn-correspondent-bruce-morton-dies-at-83-1201298852/
Bruce Morton, a longtime political correspondent for CBS News and CNN who also covered the Vietnam War and the space program, died Friday at his home in Washington, D.C., after a battle with cancer, according to information provided by CBS News. He was 83.
Morton spent the majority of a six-decade career on television and radio for CBS News, where he made a record 146 appearances on television in 1988 alone – the most for any television news personality that year. He left CBS in 1993 after 29 years to join CNN. He he retired from that organization in 2006.
As a member of the CBS News Washington Bureau in the 1970s, he covered some of the biggest political news stories of his era, winning an Emmy with his team for the CBS News Special Report “Watergate: The White House Transcripts” in 1977. He won a total of six Emmys for his CBS News work, one of which was for his coverage of the 1971 court-martial of Lt. William Calley, who was on trial for the infamous Vietnam War My Lai Massacre.
“Bruce was an original member of the famed ‘Boys on the Bus,’ and could share campaign trail war stories with his colleagues and our viewers like nobody else,” said Sam Feist, CNN’s Washington Bureau chief, in a memo to staffers Friday. He also said: “All of us who worked with Bruce knew him to be a reporter’s reporter; a man who cared deeply about journalism, politics and people. Bruce could tell a story like no other, as he effortlessly weaved facts, emotion and history into every one of his news stories. A story about a Senate race might be full of references to Lyndon Johnson, Richard Russell, or even Daniel Webster. Bruce understood the importance of historical context. Without exception each of his stories was unique and brilliantly written. Simply put, Bruce was a modern day news poet.”
Bruce Alexander Morton was born on Oct. 28, 1930, in Norwalk, CT, and grew up in Chicago, where he attended local schools. He received his B.A. degree from Harvard College in 1952.
He got his start in the news business while still a student at Harvard in Boston, where he wrote and read radio newscasts for WORL. In the late 1950s, Morton was a reporter and editor for the local NBC-owned station in Pittsburgh, a role he assumed after serving as a general assistant for the New York NBC-owned station. Morton joined CBS News as a reporter in the Washington Bureau in 1964 and was elevated to correspondent in 1966. Before that, he had reported for nearly 10 years from the nation’s capital and from abroad for other news organizations. He reported on conflicts in Africa for ABC News between 1962 and 1964. He was a London and Washington correspondent for News Associated and Radio Press before that.
He is survived by a daughter, Sarah Morton, and a son, Alec, both of New York City. The family is planning to announce a future memorial service to be held in Washington, where Morton lived since 1964.
Bruce Morton, a longtime political correspondent for CBS News and CNN who also covered the Vietnam War and the space program, died Friday at his home in Washington, D.C., after a battle with cancer, according to information provided by CBS News. He was 83.
Morton spent the majority of a six-decade career on television and radio for CBS News, where he made a record 146 appearances on television in 1988 alone – the most for any television news personality that year. He left CBS in 1993 after 29 years to join CNN. He he retired from that organization in 2006.
As a member of the CBS News Washington Bureau in the 1970s, he covered some of the biggest political news stories of his era, winning an Emmy with his team for the CBS News Special Report “Watergate: The White House Transcripts” in 1977. He won a total of six Emmys for his CBS News work, one of which was for his coverage of the 1971 court-martial of Lt. William Calley, who was on trial for the infamous Vietnam War My Lai Massacre.
“Bruce was an original member of the famed ‘Boys on the Bus,’ and could share campaign trail war stories with his colleagues and our viewers like nobody else,” said Sam Feist, CNN’s Washington Bureau chief, in a memo to staffers Friday. He also said: “All of us who worked with Bruce knew him to be a reporter’s reporter; a man who cared deeply about journalism, politics and people. Bruce could tell a story like no other, as he effortlessly weaved facts, emotion and history into every one of his news stories. A story about a Senate race might be full of references to Lyndon Johnson, Richard Russell, or even Daniel Webster. Bruce understood the importance of historical context. Without exception each of his stories was unique and brilliantly written. Simply put, Bruce was a modern day news poet.”
Bruce Alexander Morton was born on Oct. 28, 1930, in Norwalk, CT, and grew up in Chicago, where he attended local schools. He received his B.A. degree from Harvard College in 1952.
He got his start in the news business while still a student at Harvard in Boston, where he wrote and read radio newscasts for WORL. In the late 1950s, Morton was a reporter and editor for the local NBC-owned station in Pittsburgh, a role he assumed after serving as a general assistant for the New York NBC-owned station. Morton joined CBS News as a reporter in the Washington Bureau in 1964 and was elevated to correspondent in 1966. Before that, he had reported for nearly 10 years from the nation’s capital and from abroad for other news organizations. He reported on conflicts in Africa for ABC News between 1962 and 1964. He was a London and Washington correspondent for News Associated and Radio Press before that.
He is survived by a daughter, Sarah Morton, and a son, Alec, both of New York City. The family is planning to announce a future memorial service to be held in Washington, where Morton lived since 1964.