NPR's Daniel Schorr is next at Open VISIONS Forum | Press Releases

Veteran reporter/commentator and current senior news analyst for National Public Radio, Daniel Schorr, will share his witty, acerbic and pungent insights into the politicians, headlines and events shaping our time at Fairfield University's next Open VISIONS Forum on Sunday, March 4, at 3 p.m., in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

The last of Edward R. Murrow's legendary CBS "Golden Age" team still fully active in journalism, Schorr has earned Columbia University's Golden Baton, a Peabody Award, the George Polk Award for radio commentary, three Emmys and decorations from European heads of state. He has also been honored by civil liberties groups and professional organizations for his defense of the First Amendment. During the Watergate era, he had the distinction of being highly placed on President Nixon's now infamous "Enemies List."

His analysis of current issues is broadened by his first-hand perspective on recent history. At home, he has covered government controversies ranging from Senator Joseph McCarthy's hearings in the early 1950s to the recent Clinton impeachment hearings. Abroad he has observed superpower summits from the Eisenhower-Khrushchev meeting in Geneva in 1955 to the Reagan-Gorbachev conference in Moscow in 1988.

Schorr's 20-year career as a foreign correspondent began in 1946. Having served in the U.S. Army intelligence during World War II, he began writing from Western Europe for the Christian Science Monitor and later The New York Times witnessing postwar reconstruction, the Marshall Plan and the creation of the NATO alliance.

Following the Watergate break-in in 1972, Schorr's coverage as CBS' chief Watergate correspondent earned him three Emmys. In 1976, when the House of Representatives voted to suppress the final intelligence report of the CIA and FBI scandals its investigating committee had uncovered, Schorr arranged for publication of the advance copy he had exclusively obtained. This led to his suspension from CBS and an investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Despite several threats, Schorr refused to reveal his sources on First Amendment grounds.

After his name was cleared, Schorr resigned from CBS, wrote a book about the incident and became senior correspondent at CNN until 1985. Since then he has been a senior news analyst for National Public Radio, contributing regularly to "All Things Considered" and both "Weekend" editions.

Tickets to the Daniel Schorr lecture are $15, with discounts available for seniors and students. The Schorr lecture is sponsored in part by WSHU, the local NPR affiliate. The Open VISIONS Forum, a program of Fairfield University's School of Continuing Education, is sponsored in part by Advest. For information or tickets, call (203) 254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396.