Famed Broadcaster Battles the Press—and His Demons

Famed Broadcaster Battles the Press—and His Demons
Famed Broadcaster Battles the Press—and His Demons

Famed Broadcaster Battles the Press—and His Demons

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In the early 1950s, any reporter who dared question Senator Joe McCarthy and his red-baiting followers found themselves criticized, hounded, or even blacklisted. One such reporter was Don Hollenbeck. He was a journalist who spoke “truth-to-power” but he couldn’t escape the internal demons and external criticism that plagued him until his death in 1954. Northwestern University Journalism Professor Loren Ghiglione’s new biography CBS’s Don Hollenbeck: An Honest Reporter in the Age of McCarthyism tells Hollenbeck’s story. Eight Forty-Eight contributor John McDonough was intrigued by Hollenbeck and produced this profile of the man’s rise and fall.

Music Button: The John Buzon Trio, “Blues Is In My Heart”, from the CD Rhapsodesia, (Capitol records)