PORT TOWNSEND — Peninsula College Associate professor Rich Riski will discuss the career of legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow on Friday.
The Jefferson County Historical Society First Friday Lecture will be at 7 p.m. in Port Townsend’s historic City Council chamber, 540 Water St.
Admission is by donation. Proceeds support historical society programs.
Murrow came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II. He was known for his honesty and integrity in delivering the news, said Bill Tennent, executive director of the historical society.
As a pioneer of television news broadcasting, he produced a series of TV news reports that helped lead to the U.S. Senate’s censure of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who fueled anti-Communist fervor, for abusing his power as a senator.
Murrow had Washington state connections. He grew up in Blanchard, attended high school in Edison, played on the championship basketball team in Skagit County and graduated from Washington State College, which is now Washington State University, in 1930.
He died in 1965.
Riski teaches journalism and has twice won the Peninsula College Exceptional Faculty Award.
He has degrees in natural resources and environmental communication from Ohio State University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Memphis.
He is also an American Scholar in Mass Media at Guangxi Vocational and Technical Institute of Industry in Nanning, China.
