Voting Station

Fred Friendly

Please vote to return to collections.

TV Executive

The Resume

    (October 30, 1915-March 3, 1998)
    Born in New York City, New York
    Birth name was Ferdinand Friendly Wachenheimer
    With Edward R. Murrow co-produced 'See It Now' and 'CBS Reports'
    President of CBS News (1964-66)
    Professor of Broadcast Journalism at Columbia University (1966-79)
    Wrote 'Due to Circumstances Beyond Out Control,' 'The Good Guys, The Bad Guys and the First Amendment' and 'The Constitution: That Delicate Balance'
    Portrayed by George Clooney in 'Good Night and Good Luck' (2005)

Why he might be annoying:

    He said his first decision as head of CBS News was 'the worst thing I've ever done': removing Walter Cronkite as anchor for the network's coverage of the Democratic National Convention.
    He constantly clashed with superiors at CBS.
    He left CBS in protest after the network refused to pre-empt an episode of 'The Lucy Show' to broadcast US Senate hearings about the Vietnam War.
    He announced his resignation in a letter to the New York Times before bothering to inform CBS.
    Author David Halberstam called him 'a man who always came equipped with his own precipice from which to jump.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He and Murrow were among the first people in TV news to speak out against Joseph McCarthy during the anti-Communist witch hunts of the 50s.
    He won ten Peabody Awards during his career.
    He fathered public access television when he recommended to New York Mayor John Lindsay that the cable companies set aside two channels for public use (1968).
    Bill Moyers said, 'He never thinks that because something is serious it has to be dull.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 28 Votes: 53.57% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying