Eric Sevareid Farewell Nov 30, 1977

CBS Commentator Eric Sevareid bade farewell to his audience when he retired Nov 30, 1977. This video was rescued from a 3/4" Beta aircheck of the CBS Newsfeed I recorded everyday at 3:30 PST when I produced the 11pm newscast for KOIN-TV in Portland. Sevareid was one of my heroes because he was one of the last class acts of the Murrow era to retire. I recently rescued this video that had been sitting in my attic for all these years, and I thought it appropriate to post it here for a new generation to discover. Enjoy.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Eric
• Sevareid
• CBS
• News
• Commentor
• Murrow
• Cronkite
• retire
• farewell
• 1977

[cvkline]

As Peggy Noonan of the WSJ just tweeted: "Look how people used to talk on TV." Indeed... comparing this to today's pablum is really an eye-opener.

[witness2history]

Eric Sevareid, Ed Murrow, Howard K. Smith...these were giants of intellect and integrity...followed by the pygmies of Beck, Hannity, and Olberman. How desperately sad for us all.

[laronmaron98]

If you were young and had difficulty understanding Sevareid, it was by design. He didn't "dumb down" his phrasing; he never spoke down to his listeners or readers. He spoke to them as they were: adults. If we're saddened by the loss of that in reporting today, it's because of what we've come to expect...only one of many unfortunate symptoms of what we've become.

[eboctr]

Thank you very much for your work in sharing this treasure with us!

--Shane Whisler, "clergy-journalist"

[jsteptoe36]

GREAT MAN!!!



[rever65]

Learned, intelligent, to the point commentating. Something sadly lacking in these "reality tv" times.

[FriedrichKling]

WHATT A CLASS ACT. NOW LOOK AT THE YOUNG PUNKS ON TV WHO HAVE NO EXPERIENCE OR WISDOM. GOD FORBID THEY SHOULD HAVE A GRAY HAIR. OH HOW I MISS THE GOOD OLD DAYS. WHAT HAS THIS COUNTRY AND WORLD COME TO? GOD BLESS YOU MR. SEVAREID!

[stevevandien]

The viewers no longer have the patience for such eloquent English. We are much the poorer for that.

[catholicpriest1]

I listened to him when I was younger. I never understood a word he said.

[dburr13]

They talked up to us back then...Challenging us to understand our own world...Leaving us the task of making up our own minds...Today so many want to be told what to think...And accept whatever they have absorbed from a self appointed wise man as the gospel truth...Never bothering to question the motivation behind the words of "wisdom" that they have been given.

[surprisedcabbage]

Exceptional. I miss them, even as I've never known them.

[SupaT1969]

Wow, just wow. I was only three when this aired. This very eloquently drives home the point of just how far we have fallen, journalism specifically and our entire culture in general. I have now seen the problem, and the problem is us.