Ed Bradley

Journalist

• Born: June 22, 1941
• Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Died: November 9, 2006
• Place of death: New York, New York

One of the first African American journalists to appear on network television news, Bradley was an award-winning reporter for CBS and also was the first African American White House correspondent. He was best known for his work on the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes.

Early Life

Edward Rudolph Bradley, Jr., was born on June 22, 1941, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Not long after his birth, his parents divorced. His father, a businessman, moved to Detroit, Michigan, and that was where Bradley often spent his summers. The rest of the year, he lived in Philadelphia with his mother and attended a Roman Catholic school.

Bradley attended Cheyney State College in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1964. After college, he taught and worked at a local radio station as a disc jockey and news reporter. His talent for broadcast journalism was quickly recognized.

Bradley decided to pursue a radio career and moved to WCBS in New York in 1967. After a short stint there, he moved to Paris to pursue a literary career. To support himself, he began working for CBS in its Paris office as a freelancer. After Bradley returned to the United States in 1972, CBS sent him to Saigon to cover the Vietnam War. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Bradley became a well-known face on network news thanks to his work on CBS’s 60 Minutes.

Life’s Work

Bradley spent thirty-five years with CBS News. One of his earliest major assignments was covering the Vietnam War. He won his first Emmy Award in 1979 for a story on Vietnamese “boat people” refugees. He also won an Emmy for a report on the status of African Americans with regard to school desegregation. Much of his work addressed social issues in America and abroad.

In 1976, Bradley began covering Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign. As a result of his coverage he became the first African American White House correspondent. He also served as the main anchor on CBS Sunday Night News. In 1981, he replaced Dan Rather as one of four correspondents on 60 Minutes. It was there that he truly made his mark.

Bradley’s reporting style on 60 Minutes made him famous. His calm demeanor and matter-of-fact interviewing style became his trademarks. He also stood out because he wore a beard and an earring, distinctive choices at a time when television journalists were almost uniformly staid.

On 60 Minutes, Bradley interviewed many public figures, including Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, and Mick Jagger. One of his personal favorites was a piece he did on jazz legend Lena Horne. A music lover, Bradley went back to radio late in his career and hosted National Public Radio’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. One of the last stories he worked on for 60 Minutes was an investigation into the 2004 rape allegation against the Duke University lacrosse team, an incident that sparked a major controversy. Bradley interviewed some of the men accused in the case.

Over the course of his career, Bradley received numerous honors, including a Peabody Award, more than twenty Emmys, the 2000 Paul White Award from the Radio/Television News Directors Association, and the National Association of Black Journalists’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

On November 9, 2006, Bradley died of complications from leukemia. He was honored with a televised New Orleans-style jazz funeral. Among the attendees were fellow journalists, celebrities, and politicians Bradley had interviewed.

Significance

Bradley overcame racial barriers in network television and proved himself a serious and competent journalist. The majority of his career was spent at CBS News and on 60 Minutes. He received awards for his work and was well respected for his accessible, thorough reporting style. He also established an award for an aspiring minority journalist that is presented annually by the Radio/Television News Directors Association.

Bibliography

Graves, Earl G. “Carrying on the Legacy of Ed Bradley.” Black Enterprise 37, no. 6 (January, 2007): 12. Dis-

cusses Bradley’s legacy and the job ahead for black journalists who follow in his footsteps.

Hunter-Gault, Charlayne. “Ed Bradley: Journalism Pioneer, 1941-2006; A Man of Honor, Dignity and Courage.” The Black Collegian 37, no. 2 (February, 2007): 70-72. A touching obituary and tribute to Bradley written by his journalism colleague Hunter-Gault.

Steinberg, Jacques. “Subjects and Colleagues Recall Ed Bradley.” The New York Times, November 22, 2006, p. C12. Bradley is memorialized by his journalism colleagues in this New York Times article.

Terry, Wallace. “Ed Bradley.” In Missing Pages: Black Journalists of Modern America—An Oral History. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2007. Biographical profile of Bradley focusing on his career and how it was influenced and affected by his race.