The movie “Good Night, and Good Luck” directed by George Clooney opened my eyes to what television was and can be. This movie is about journalist Edward R. Murrow and his public battle with Senator Joseph McCarthy over Mccarthy's handling of a case of an air force officer who was forcibly discharged after not denouncing his communist family members. The movie started with the beginning of Edward R. Murrow’s speech then ended the movie with the ending of his speech. I enjoyed how this was laid out and it really made me think. His speech starts and ends with “History will be how we make it,” as he continues to talk about what is happening to radio and television. I strongly believe this statement because only we can make a change for what will happen. This quote stood out to me during his speech, “They will there find recorded in black and white and in color evidence of decadence, escapism, and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.” Here Murrow goes on about broadcasting our media and how some people will try to hide the truth. This is a great start to fake news which we now see almost everywhere on many different news platforms. It's so important how our mass media will reflect what is happening in the world. Some will be lies and it's so crucial that we get the truth and learn from it. Television has been used to distract and amuse people throughout time. Murrow refers to the television as an instrument. Claiming “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and even it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise, it's nothing but wires and lights in a box.” Millions of people will see what determines the future of this country and our future.
Throughout our evolution with journalism, there have been many similarities and differences between the press’ performance today and in earlier eras. We can compare things like the paper press back then to clickbait now. These are both attention grabbers to get people intrigued and it's usually not all liable and true. Over time headlines seem to stay as big and bold as they used to be. Highlighting the main news that is happening to get people curious. Something I’ve noticed that has drastically changed in our news era is war reporting.
War reporters used to be very big back in the 1940s during the Mccarthy Era. Many war reporters would be all over the world doing all they could to get the best stories. Take Kate Webb for example. A female war correspondent who reported on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, where she was almost attacked by a militiaman who tried to drag her up a flight of hotel stairs by her hair. She also reported on the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in India, the 1968 revolution in the Philippines, the conflict in East Timor, and the Gulf War. She was also the first to report back and one of the only correspondents left in the city when the Tet Offensive was launched in 1968. She made her way to the scene of the fighting where the ground was full of dead soldiers from both sides. Webb wrote that “it looked like a butcher's shop in Eden, beautiful; but ghastly” on the horrific scene she saw. These war reporters would go as far as they could for a good story and to let the world around them know what was going on. However nowadays we barely see anything about the war in the news. I find this saddening because of how many people fight in our war for us not to know what's going on.
I see similarities between the “red scare” era of the film and our world today. Where they were poor and the fear of a potential rise in communism grew. I think our government should not be controlling the press because of hiding the truth. Journalists are here to broadcast what is going on around the world and having government try to change that or hid the truth should never be allowed. I think it’s important the press and government don’t collide as it’s scary what the government could hide. Today many people are fearing more and more, especially with what goes on in our world today. With all of the recent mass shootings, there have actually been some people fearing and growing hatred toward those in the LGTBQ community. This has been due to the few most recent shootings in our country being those in the trans community. However, this such thing should never be compared to and it's very saddening to hear about. Recently our world has been hit with a lot. With about 158 mass shootings within just 106 days of this year so far. Many are fearing sending their children to school or even going out in public. Our news recently has been so sad however not everything is broadcasted online. Not all 158 of these shootings have been broadcasted. This goes again to the war. There has been so much happening yet we aren't aware. If I had to give this current era a name I would name it the “Dark Era”. We are experiencing so many tragedies with humans, our planet, and animals. There seems to always be something to be afraid of in our world today that isn't talked about on the news as much as it should be.
