Trout, Robert

▪ 2001

Robert Albert Blondheim 

      American broadcast journalist (b. Oct. 15, 1909, Washington, D.C.—d. Nov. 14, 2000, New York, N.Y.), helped create the role of news anchor. Trout got his start in journalism as a news announcer for radio station WJSV in Alexandria, Va. When Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) bought WJSV in 1932, he joined the team that became “Murrow's boys,” a select group of reporters led by CBS foreign correspondent Edward R. Murrow. Trout worked with Murrow throughout the late 1930s and World War II. On March 13, 1938, Trout anchored the first live radio newscast to combine reports from cities around the world. After the war, he continued to work for CBS in both radio and television. In later years he was a commentator for the National Public Radio program All Things Considered.

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