The Murrow Boys

Cameramen Charlie Mack and Marty Barnett in Islamorada, Florida to film Ed Murrow’s interview with the former President Truman in February of 1957.

Mack and Barnett were former newsreel cameramen who quit the newsreels when Murrow offered them positions as television cameramen in the then infant network television news.

(Psst, Lenslinger, do look closely at Barnett’s attire…and in 1957 on an Ed Murrow shoot too!)

Photo from Tufts University.

Norman Alley and views on TV News

By the time this article was written outlining Norman Alley’s views on news photography and television news, the Hearst newsreel crews were under contract with CBS News to shoot newsfilm for programs such as Ed Murrow’s See It Now.

Norman Alley, in addition to his usual duties with the Hearst newsreel, was Ed Murrow’s primary west coast news photographer outside of Charlie Mack, Murrow’s main go-to photog.

Alley son, Dexter, learned a lot at his father’s knee and followed in his footsteps of shooting news, becoming one of the first photographers hired on at a local affiliate in the late 1940s.

I Witness

Norman William Alley.

News photographer for Universal Newsreel, MGM News of the Day and CBS News.

The last of my books, photos and notes have been finally packed for the move to the South, as such, there will be no more blog posts until after the 1st of the year.

Lenslinger will be shortly receiving a copy of Alley’s autobiography, and its a safe bet that modern day photog over in the Tar Heel state will be blogging about his legendary predecessor as soon as he finishes reading…..so watch over there to fill the void.

- Amanda