Good Night, and Good Luck

Journalism is full of intimidation. Journalism can make or break an individual. Journalism requires a person to stand their ground, do their job, and report the truth. 

Each of these ideas was conveyed in George Clooney's 2005 award-winning film, "Good Night, And Good Luck." A cinematic masterpiece, Clooney's work based its story on the true events and broadcasting conflict that occurred between Edward Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy in the mid 1950s. Murrow, a CBS reporter, concerned himself with reporting strictly the facts, taking the emotion out of journalism in order to convey the truth. Senator McCarthy a man responsible for the coining of the term "McCarthyism," wanted to "expose" all "communists" living in the U.S. and use fear to sway journalism and sway American sentiments. 

The film follows the CBS news crew, the crew's responses to McCarthy, and the fearful society that was their audience. It shows journalistic heroism at its essence through the efforts of Murrow, producer Fred Friendly, and other team members like Joe Wershba. But, more than anything, the movie shows a relationship between the press and government that existed in the 50s and still exists almost 75 years later. 

McCarthy's attempts to turn society against Murrow by labeling him as a communist on national television is what we now call "the chilling effect." It is characterized by fear and intimidation tactics employed by the government in order to silence their opposition in the fourth estate. Rather than focus on McCarthy's actions, a topic I have covered in a previous post , I want to look at what Murrow and the CBS team's response says about journalism. 

For a large portion of the film, the CBS news team is divided around the topic of releasing information on the closed case of Milo Radulovich. Radulovich had been put on trial for being a supposed "communist." Murrow and a select few believed that he was being persecuted due to the hidden actions of Senator McCarthy. Some of the CBS news team, including second in command, Sig Mickelson, were strongly against reporting on Radulovich's case for fear of backlash or being targeted by McCarthy too. Others, like Murrow, were dedicated to their work. They believed that they owed it to the American people to tell the truth, thus sending them to report on the story against orders. 

Murrow and his team show what being a part of the press is truly about. If writers and broadcasters sat in fear, letting others control what they wrote or said, then journalists would simply be a tool in a political handyman's chest, waiting to be called on to advance someone else's agenda. The actions of CBS ultimately set a precedent for journalism in decades to come and displayed the sacrifices that were necessary to achieve the overall standard of accuracy and transparency that reporting requires.