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George Polk, (1913 - 1948) was an American journalist for CBS who disappeared in Greece and was found dead shortly afterwards on Sunday May 16, 1948, shot at point blank range in the back of the head, and with hands and feet tied. Polk was covering the civil war in Greece between the right wing government and communists and had been critical of both sides. 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...
1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
CBS (an abbreviation for Columbia Broadcasting System, the former legal name of the network) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ...
May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (137th in leap years). ...
1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...
A communist journalist, Gregorios Stahtopoulos, was tried and convicted of the murder. But an investigation by James G.M. Kellis (a.k.a. Killis), a former OSS officer with knowledge of Greek political circles and power brokers, concluded that Greek communist circles lacked the power and influence to commit and cover-up the murder. Kellis worked on contract for the Wall Street law firm of William 'Wild Bill' Donovan, the former head of OSS, who was hired by journalist Walter Lippman to investigate the case. Following Kellis' conclusion that it was more likely Polk had been murdered by right-wing groups within or affiliated to the Greek government, the investigation was halted and Kellis recalled to Washington. At the time the US government was financially supporting the Greek government mainly to prevent a possible communist take-over of the country. The Greek government had been supported by the British Government throughout 1941-1945 but this became an impossibility after the war. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime (but not direct) precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. ...
William Donovan Major General William Joseph Donovan, KBE, United States Army (January 1, 1883 – February 8, 1959) was an American soldier, lawyer and intelligence officer, best remembered today as wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). ...
Walter Lippmann (September 23, 1889 - December 14, 1974), was an influential United States writer, journalist, and political commentator. ...
Polk had married Rea (a.k.a. Rhea) Coccins-Polk, a Greek national and ex-stewardess, seven months prior to his death. After being harassed and threatened by the Greek government she fled to the US where she was debriefed by Donovan's law firm. She became friendly with Barbara Colby, the wife of William Colby, a former OSS officer attached to Donovan's firm, who later would become director of the CIA. William Egan Colby (January 4, 1920–April 27, 1996) became Director of Central Intelligence on September 4, 1973, after James R. Schlesinger. ...
The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ...
Reporters in New York city started a fundraising project to send an independent investigation committee to Greece, and from this effort the newsmen's commission was formed. Members included Ernest Hemingway, William Polk (George Polk's brother), William Price (Polk's cousin) and Homer Brigart. This was soon however eclipsed in media coverage by the Lippman Committee, comprised mostly of Washington journalists with Walter Lippman as chairman (hence the name), and James Reston of the New York Times. Ernest Hemingway, 1950 Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. ...
Walter Lippmann (September 23, 1889 - December 14, 1974), was an influential United States writer, journalist, and political commentator. ...
James Scotty Reston James Barrett Reston (3 November 1909 – 12 June 1995) (nicknamed Scotty) was a prominent American journalist whose career spanned the mid 1930s to the early 1990s. ...
The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...
Within months of his death, a group of American journalists instigated the 'George Polk Awards' for Journalism. The term 'Cold war' was either coined by Walter Lippman in his similarly named 1947 book, or by George Orwell. George Orwell on TIME magazine cover from 1983. ...
The roles of the US government, William Donovan's law firm (at the time already a front for some CIA operations), and the Lippman committee in rubberstamping and acknowledging the Greek government's whitewash and show-trial are strongly critised. The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ...
References - Prados, John (2003). Last Crusader: The Secret Wars Of CIA Director William Colby. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512847-8.
- Bernhard, Nancy E (1999). U.S. Television News and Cold War Propaganda, 1947-1960. Cambridge University Press.
- Keeley, Edmund (1989). The Salonika Bay Murder: Cold War Politics and the Polk Affair. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
- Marton, Kati (1990). The Polk Conspiracy: Murder and Cover-Up in the Case of CBS News Correspondent George Polk. Farrar Straus and Giroux, New York.
- Unger, Sanford (1990). "The Case of the Inconvenient Correspondent", Columbia Journalism Review 29 (November/December 1990).
- Vlanton, Elias, and Zak Mettger (1996). Who Killed George Polk? The Press Covers Up a Death in the Family. Temple University Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Related articles and links The George Polk Awards is an American journalism award. ...
The Cold War was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their alliance partners. ...
William Donovan Major General William Joseph Donovan, KBE, United States Army (January 1, 1883 – February 8, 1959) was an American soldier, lawyer and intelligence officer, best remembered today as wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). ...
Walter Lippmann (September 23, 1889 - December 14, 1974), was an influential United States writer, journalist, and political commentator. ...
External links - http://www.vlanton.com/polkbook.html
- http://www.routledge-ny.com/radio/polk.pdf
- http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/07/040212
- http://dlib.nyu.edu:8083/tamwagead/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=/newsmens.xml&style=/saxon01t2002.xsl&part=body
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