Good Night, and Good Luck

 

George Clooney's 2005 award-winning film "Good Night, and Good Luck" takes place during the early years of Broadcast Journalism in the 1950s. 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. 

As the film follows the CBS news crew and their response to McCarthy and the fearful society, 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. 

The term "the chilling effect" was gained when we heard McCarthy try and call Murrow a communist on national television. He tried to turn all of society against him. The term is characterized by fear and intimidation tactics employed by the government in order to silence their opposition in the fourth estate. 

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.