John Henry Faulk Wins $3.5 Million Damages Award for Being Blacklisted
John Henry Faulk had been a popular CBS radio talk show host for six years in the 1950s. He lost his job in 1957 and was blacklisted after he was accused of being a Communist in the notorious anti-Communist report, Red Channels, issued on June 22, 1950. Faulk sued and was awarded $3.5 million in damages.
The award was later reduced to $500,000, but the case effectively ended the practice of blacklisting in the radio and television industry.
CBS television journalist Edward R. Murrow, famous for his pivotal attack on Senator Joe McCarthy on March 9, 1954, financially supported Faulk’s lawsuit.
In 1995 the Austin, Texas, Public Library honored Faulk by renaming its Central Library the John Henry Faulk Public Library.
Read his story: John Henry Faulk, Fear on Trial (1964)
See an interview with Faulk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49uOfSjZSu4
Learn more about Cold War blacklisting: David Everitt, A Shadow of Red: Communism and the Blacklist in Radio and Television (2007)