Schorr says Times rejected him for a job because he is Jewish

Schorr went on to become part of Edward R. Murrow's legendary news team at CBS and in the 1980s served as CNN's senior correspondent in Washington. He now serves as National Public Radio's senior news analyst and as a commentator for the Public Broadcasting Service.

But back in the 1950s, Schorr's dream was to become a foreign correspondent for the New York Times. The problem was that in the aftermath of World War II, the Times was closing foreign bureaus and not hiring new correspondents. After a three-day trial on the Times city desk, Schorr said, he was told to go to Europe and wait. Maybe something would turn up.

He chose Holland and there received his "lucky break." In February 1953, a disastrous flood burst open the dikes, submerging one-third of the country under water. Schorr was there, providing front-page coverage for the Times day after day.

His reports impressed the Times' editors, but still no job offer came through. He began filing reports for Murrow's CBS evening radio news broadcast and eventually received a permanent job offer.

Before accepting the position, Schorr said, he checked once more to see if the Times would consider hiring him as a correspondent. He received a cable advising him to accept the position at CBS.

Two years later, at the end of 1955, Schorr was attending a party in New York, where he bumped into Emmanuel Freedman, the Times' foreign editor. He complimented Schorr on his work for CBS and invited him to dinner. Also at the dinner was Theodore Bernstein, the Times' assistant managing editor. Both spoke of their regret at not being able to hire Schorr. When Schorr asked what had prevented them, they revealed that the Times' top editor, Turner Catledge, had issued a directive freezing the hiring of Jews as correspondents. The reason cited, Schorr recounted, was "because we might be involved soon in a Middle East war, and we need to have flexibility."

Schorr's account came as a surprise to the luncheon audience, many of whom think of the Times as a paper with considerable Jewish influence, with such op-ed page bylines as A.M. Rosenthal, Thomas Friedman, William Safire and Frank Rich. But back then, Schorr said, the paper -- owned by the Jewish Sulzberger family -- was very self-conscious about having a too-Jewish image.

Schorr also spoke of how the Times and other mainstream news outlets ignored many of the early accounts about Holocaust atrocities that were being reported by JTA and its subsidiary, the Overseas News Agency.

He said JTA, which today serves over 100 publications worldwide, continues to play an important role in reporting news of particular concern to the Jewish people.

"If JTA had not been there, it would have had to be created."