CBS correspondent known for work during Korean, Vietnam wars
MURRAY FROMSON 1929- 2018
LOS ANGELES — Murray Fromson, a longtime CBS News correspondent and former Associated Press reporter known for his work during the Korean and Vietnam wars, has died. He was 88.
Mr. Fromson died in his sleep Saturday morning in Los Angeles and had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for several years, according to his son, Derek Fromson.
During his 35- year career in broadcast news, he covered the Vietnam War and the fall of Saigon, the armistice talks in Korea, the end of the U. S. occupation in Japan and the Apollo space program.
Mr. Fromson worked for The Associated Press for several years in the 1950s before he went to work at NBC News and then became a longtime CBS News correspondent.
He also covered two presidential elections, three summit meetings between Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev, of the former Soviet Union, and “Bloody Sunday,” a day of racial violence in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.
Mr. Fromson and his colleagues at CBS News also won two Overseas Press Club awards for reporting on the fall of Saigon.
He was a founding member of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a nonprofit organization that provides legal representation and resources to protect the rights of journalists.
Tony Mauro, a U. S. Supreme Court correspondent for the National Law Journal and a member of the organization’s executive committee, said Mr. Fromson was critical in gathering other reporters to form the nonprofit.
“Back in 1969, Murray was one of the first journalists to see the need for our profession to formally challenge government officials who were seeking to interfere with our ability to do our jobs through subpoenas and gag orders,” he said. “We thank Murray for his role as a pioneer for press freedom and mourn his passing.”
Mr. Fromson said during a 2015 interview for the University of Southern California’s Living History Project that helping form the group was “one of the proud moments of my life.”
“I’m very proud of the fact that committee has lasted almost 50 years and we have defended journalists all over the country,” Mr. Fromson said.
Mr. Fromson also served as a deputy campaign manager in 1978 when California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, was vying for his second term.
He joined the faculty of the University of Southern California in 1982 and later served as the director of the university’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Mr. Fromson also served as a judge for the Pulitzer Prizes in journalism in 2003 and 2004.
Besides his son, Mr. Fromson is also survived by his wife, Dodi and his daughter, Aliza Ben Tal.