Mickelson, Siegfried

▪ 2001

“Sig” 

      American broadcasting executive (b. May 24, 1913, Clinton, Minn.—d. March 24, 2000, San Diego, Calif.), as the first president of CBS's television news operation, pioneered many of the techniques of television news presentation, such as the use of anchormen, and was responsible for launching the career of Walter Cronkite. Mickelson joined CBS in 1943, organizing a radio news department in Minneapolis, Minn. He was put in charge of CBS's news division in 1951, and a year later he selected Cronkite to anchor the network's coverage of the 1952 presidential conventions. Mickelson was also responsible for hiring reporter Fred Friendly and teaming him with legendary correspondent Edward R. Murrow on the successful CBS documentary series See It Now. In 1954, with Mickelson's support, Friendly and Murrow broadcast an exposé on Sen. Joseph McCarthy that helped to turn the tide of public opinion against the controversial senator. Mickelson remained at CBS until 1961. He served as director of Time-Life Broadcasting from 1961 to 1970 and later held teaching posts at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.; Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge; and San Diego State University. From 1975 to 1978 Mickelson headed Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, combining the two into a single public corporation in 1976. His book From Whistle Stop to Sound Bite: Four Decades of Politics and Television appeared in 1989.

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