The renowned journalist who made a name for himself as a Vietnam War correspondent for CBS News before spending more than 45 years as a correspondent on “60 Minutes” died at the age of 84 Thursday. CBS did not announce a cause of death.
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Compared to the partisan, vertical news of today, Morley Safer, who died at his home in Manhattan on Thursday, represented a different kind of journalism that transcended genre and bias. Brokaw says he told Safer at the time, “No, Morley, you’re still with us”. “But most of all I thank the millions of people who have been loyal to our broadcast”.
Safer joined “60 Minutes” in 1970, that show’s third season, replacing Harry Reasoner.
Two years later, Mr. Safer became one of the first reporters for a USA network news organization to broadcast from inside Mao Zedong’s Communist China.
Colbert concluded his tribute by playing a “60 Minutes”-style introductory video that Safer had recorded for a special 2006 episode of “The Colbert Report” featuring the Decemberists”. His last report, which aired in March, was a profile of Danish architect Bjarke Ingels.
Morley Safer is survived by his wife of 48 years, Jane, his daughter Sarah Bakal, her husband, Alexander Bakal, three grandchildren, a sister, and brother, who both live in Toronto. Funeral arrangements are being kept private, but a memorial service will be announced at a later date.
Safer began his career in Canada, the nation of his birth, and worked in newspapers in that country and England, eventually joining the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
In 1965 he opened CBS’ Saigon bureau.
What he encountered, and captured on film, was the spectacle of American soldiers employing their Zippo lighters to burn thatched-roof, mud-plastered huts to the ground, despite having met with no resistance from the village’s residents.
Safer’s expose ignited a firestorm, with President Lyndon Johnson giving CBS President Frank Stanton a tongue-lashing. In 1964, he began working for CBS in its London news bureau.
He quickly became a fixture at “60 Minutes” and part of that show’s rough-and-tumble behind-the-scenes culture as the stature and ratings of the show took off.
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EDITOR’S NOTE – Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press.
