Douglas Edwards

Douglas Edwards (July 14, 1917 – October 13, 1990) was an American radio and television newscaster and correspondent who worked for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) for more than four decades. After six years on CBS Radio in the 1940s, Edwards was among the first major broadcast journalists to move into the rapidly expanding medium of television. He is also generally recognized as the first presenter or "anchor" of a nationally televised, regularly scheduled newscast by an American network. Edwards presented news on CBS television every weeknight for 15 years, from March 20, 1947, until April 16, 1962. Initially aired as a 15-minute program under the title CBS Television News, the broadcast evolved into the CBS Evening News and in 1963 expanded to a 30-minute format under Walter Cronkite, who succeeded Edwards as anchor of the newscast. Although Edwards left the evening news in 1962, he continued to work for CBS for another quarter of a century, presenting news reports on both radio and daytime television, and editing news features, until his retirement from the network on April 1, 1988.

Early life and radio career Born in Ada, Oklahoma in 1917, Edwards was the only child of Alice (née Donaldson) and Tony M. Edwards, both of whom were public school teachers. His mother had been married previously, but her first husband died in 1906 from typhoid fever. As a result of that earlier marriage, Edwards grew up with a half-brother, John W. Moore, who was 12 years older. Tragically, Alice also lost her second husband to disease. When Edwards was an infant, his father died of smallpox. Using a small crystal radio set that he acquired, Edwards began to monitor each day a wide range of regular broadcasts and special events, a routine made easier by Silver City's high elevation, which allowed him to tune in to distant stations transmitting from Los Angeles, Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and elsewhere. "What an experience that was", he recalled in a later interview, "transfixed by broadcasts I could bring in from faraway places."

At Troy's small, makeshift radio station in 1932, the teenage Edwards was paid $2.50 a week to be a "junior announcer", a disc jockey, and to fill any lapses during broadcasts by reading poetry and even singing occasionally. Describing those formative days on radio decades later, Edwards said he found the experience thrilling, although he admitted he did not sing well, adding "but I got by, got fan mail, and the ego was nourished."

Anchor for televised CBS newscasts, 1947-1962

Edwards returned to the United States from his overseas radio assignments in May 1946. While Edwards served as "anchor" of the programs, that term was actually not used within the context of newscasting, at least not consistently, until 1952, when CBS News chief Sig Mickelson reportedly applied it in describing Walter Cronkite's role in the network's political convention coverage. Despite such efforts and positive reactions to his stories, viewership of Edwards' televised newscasts began to decline by the late 1950s as NBC's new Huntley-Brinkley Report—CBS News' chief competitor—began to attract increasingly larger audiences.

Edwards' last televised evening newscast aired on April 13, 1962 The following Monday, on April 16, Walter Cronkite officially replaced him as anchor of the telecast. The next year, on September 2, 1963, the program was retitled CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. It was also rescheduled to broadcast at 6:30 p.m. instead of its normal 7:30 time slot, and its 15-minute format was expanded to 30 minutes, a change that made it the first half-hour weeknight news show on American television.

Continuing work for CBS, 1962-1988 Edwards' departure from CBS Evening News did not end his work for the network either on television or radio. For several years, both during his time as network anchor and afterwards, he anchored the local late news team on WCBS-TV, channel 2, the network's flagship station in New York City. Edwards continued until his retirement On April 1, 1988, to anchor Newsbreak, a televised 74-second weekday segment that highlighted the day's top news stories.

After he retired from CBS, Edwards and his wife May left their home in New Canaan, Connecticut, and relocated to Sarasota, Florida. Six months later, on October 30, 1988, he returned to radio to perform as himself in National Public Radio's re-creation of Orson Welles' 1938 CBS broadcast of The War of the Worlds. Directed by David Ossman, a member of the Firesign Theater troupe, the NPR production aired exactly 50 years after Welles' original radio presentation. It featured, in addition to Edwards, actor Jason Robards, comic writer and musician Steve Allen, and various NPR announcers.

Personal life and death Edwards married twice. On August 29, 1939, he wed Sara Belle Byrd, a native of North Carolina and a resident of Atlanta when Edwards resided in Georgia for several years. The couple divorced after 26 years together, during which time they had three children: Lynn Alice, Robert Anthony, and Donna Claire.

For Edwards' decades of contributions to broadcast journalism, he received numerous awards and accolades from colleagues and professional organizations: 2006 Inductee to the National Radio Hall of Fame