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The
First Anchor:
CBS Iron Man Robert Trout
By Scott Westerman
curator@keener13.com
When Robert Trout died on November 14, 2000, a significant page turned in the history of broadcast journalism. Trout covered everything from the final concert of bandleader John Philip Sousa to the first moon landing and continued to be an on-air presence at NPR until his death.
But he will always be remembered for his marathon broadcast at the start of the June 6th D-Day invasion.
He was born Robert Albert Blondheim on October 15, 1909. His earliest historical memory was the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson, where floats still depicted scenes from the Civil War. After graduating from high school, he dreamt of seeing the world and becoming a writer in the image of his hero Jack London. During the Depression, he was able to secure a job as a handy man at WSJV in Alexandria, Virginia. When a newsreader didn't show up for work, Bob got the assignment. It began a nearly 7 decade career in broadcast journalism.
When WSVJ was purchased by CBS and became WTOP, Robert Blondheim took a new air name from a family friend and became Robert Trout. In less than a year, he was invited to join Edward R. Murrow at the network's news headquarters in New York, where he became one of the 9 "Murrow Boys".
Tout earned his "Ironman" moniker as a result of his uncanny ability to report the news under the most trying circumstances. He described the inauguration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and introduced the President's regular radio talks with the nation, coining the term Fireside Chat.
In 1938, Trout became the first anchor of the CBS World News Roundup, the radio equivalent of Television's CBS Evening News. By that time, he had the earned the distinction of being the only American reporter to cover the coronation of King George VI of England in 1937. He also reported the marriage of Edward VIII to American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson, for which the King gave up the throne of the United Kingdom.
When World War II began Trout was a trusted interpreter of the cataclysmic events. By the late Spring of 1944, an Allied invasion of the Continent was a certainty. The only question was when.
Late in the evening of June 5th, the German DNB news agency, Hitler's domestic propaganda organ, reported that "the long awaited invasion" had begun. Elmer Davis, who headed the Office of War Information was telling the networks that his group had no information on the reports.
Although the network normally shut down operations at Midnight Eastern War Time, the decision was made to continue service until the reports could be authenticated. Erwin Darlington read bulletins while listeners enjoyed a Hollywood big band remote featuring Lenny Cohn and his Orchestra.
As 3AM approached, Trout took over the microphone and began an impromptu tour of the New York newsroom, describing how a news organization covered a story of this magnitude. He was standing next to a wire service teleprinter when he was given the cue to switch to London where Major Ernest Dupree read Communiqué Number 1 from Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, announcing that Allied ground forces had begun the assault of Fortress Europe.
For the rest of the night and well into the next day, Trout choreographed the reporting of the historic event, talking with Edward R. Murrow, Charles Collingwood, Richard C. Hottelet, and other members of the broadcast pool that were engaged in covering the largest invasion in history. The BBC was the clearing house for overseas news, sent via shortwave to the CBS listening post in New York and Trout had to back-time his comments to seamlessly link with the feed content. It was a fundamental skill that became part of the lexicon of every notable and would-be news anchor from then on.
Trout reported the war's conclusion in both Europe and Asia and was connected with virtually every historic event for the next two decades, describing Douglas McArthur's firing, President Truman's unlikely victory, and coverage of the national political conventions. In the 1980s, Trout was European correspondent for ABC and continued to provide occasional pieces to the network until his retirement in 1996 at the age of 87. His commentaries for NPR continued until he died. "All Things Considered" producer John McDonough of NPR defined Trout as "The last remaining link to the beginning of broadcast journalism."
For those of us who endeavored to interpret the passing scene of local, national and world events, he will always be a mentor, setting a standard we hope generations of future journalists will study and emulate.