Re-Imagined Radio | Proximity Effect

Re-Imagined Radio considers Edward R. Murrow’s efforts to help American listeners understand "The Blitz," fifty-seven consecutive days of German air force bombing of London during World War II. With his broadcasts, Murrow sought to bring listeners in America closer to the war in London than reports read by other news commentators from their studios. Without a sense of presence (being close to the story) there could be no understanding, Murrow often said. His keen observation, vivid verbal descriptions, and attention to sounds provided unmatched immediacy. A sense of what was happening. What could be observed. Radio historian Jeff Porter calls the unmatched immediacy Murrow provided listeners, "the proximity effect" (Porter Lost Sound 90) and says it prompted a new form of radio storytelling. We sample several examples of Murrow's radio storytelling, and its "proximity effect," in this episode.