Daniel Schorr Biography

For Daniel Schorr, an unhappy childhood fostered ambition that took root in journalism and grew into an impressive broadcast and print career that spanned decades. After graduating from the City College of New York, Schorr worked with a succession of news outlets, including the Jewish Daily Bulletin, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and Aneta, the Netherlands East Indies news agency. During WWII, Schorr served in Army intelligence, and then wrote for the Christian Science Monitor and the New York Times. In 1953, he came under the tutelage of Edward R. Murrow when he accepted a job with CBS. Schorr added his voice and news analysis skills to NPR beginning in 1985 and held the position until his death. Schorr wrote numerous books and documentaries and won many journalistic awards, including three Emmys for his coverage of Watergate. An uncompromising journalist who was the first to interview a Soviet leader (Nikita Khrushchev, in 1957), Schorr was 93 when he died in Washington, D.C.

Schorr's first scoop came at age 12 when he saw his first dead body—a woman who fell or jumped from the roof of his apartment building. A quick-thinking Schorr called not only the police, but also—after conducting interviews about the victim—the Bronx Home News, which paid him for the information.