Frank Kearns was the award-winning, go-to guy at CBS News for dangerous stories in Africa and the Middle East from the 1950s to the '70s. Nearly killed 114 times while on assignments, his competitors and some insiders thought he was the best who ever worked at the network. Dan Rather referred to him as a "legend around here." He covered the growing influences of communism in Egypt, the Algerian struggle for independence, rooftop battles in Lebanon and street fighting in Cypress, the devastating "African World War" in the Congo, numerous military coups and civil war in Nigeria, the Paris peace talks, and the intense violence by paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. Then in 1976, CBS told Congress that Frank Kearns worked for the CIA while working for CBS in Cairo, Egypt in the 1950s. Kearns denied it. Combining personal stories from colleagues, competitors, historians, friends and family members, Frank Kearns: American Correspondent tells the history of early television news, geopolitical intrigue during the Cold War, and the nuances and ethics of information gathering in a fast-moving and dangerous world.
Broadcast In: English Duration: 0:57:59