Lowell Thomas

Attachments

1946-1996 Capital Cities/ABC Inc.
1987 LA Weekly - The Seizing of the American Broadcasting Company
Cap Cities was founded in 1954 by several men who were or would become prominent. Chief among them, and the principal players in the company, were famed explorer-newscaster Thomas,...
He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989.
He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco.
Lawrence's public image resulted in part from the sensationalised reporting of the Arab revolt by American journalist Lowell Thomas, as well as from Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
Lowell Thomas Award
T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it.
Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places.
Travelogues
When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic.