NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pioneering television newsman Joseph Wershba, whose work helped end the controversial 1950s hunt for American communists known as the "Red Scare," has died, CBS said on Monday. He was 90.
Wershba died of pneumonia on Saturday at a Long Island hsopital, CBS said in a statement.
Early in his 50-year career, Wershba's work for Edward R. Murrow's "See it Now" television segments showed the power of a fresh new medium known as television.
As a "See it Now" reporter and producer of the 1953 "The Milo Radulovich Story," Wershba exposed a U.S. Air Force move to discharge a reserve officer because of his family's indirect association with communism.
CBS said thousands of letters from viewers flooded in supporting Radulovich, and the reaction in turn helped spark broad media attention to innocent victims of the anti-communist drive led by Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Wershba went on to become one of the six original producers for "60 Minutes," which debuted in 1968. He won two Emmy awards for his work.
"Joe Wershba was a wonderful man who was a pioneer of broadcast journalism," said Jeff Fager, chairman of CBS News and executive producer of "60 Minutes." "Almost everything he touched became part of the foundation for CBS News."
Wershba was portrayed in the 2005 film "Good Night, and Good Luck" by actor Robert Downey Jr.
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Jerry Norton)
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