Director George Clooney chose to display the elements of journalism in his movie 'Good Night and Good Luck' (2005) when he told the story about journalist Edward R. Murrow and his team of CBS reporters. They worked hard to expose the indecency of Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist craze or Red Scare.
Communism spread panic around the United States in the 1950s and Wisconsin Senator McCarthy didn’t help anyone calm down about it. In fact, he used tactics to make it worse. Anyone in opposition to McCarthy would be blacklisted and charged a communist.
In The Elements of Journalism, Kovach and Rosenstiel seek to reveal journalism’s ethical code. Murrow did everything he could to use truth and loyalty to citizens to oppose McCarthy. He risked being called a communist himself while he dug into McCarthy’s past and used what he found to question McCarthy and report to the public.
Murrow wished to reveal truth, by first pursuing truth. He felt a responsibility to expose McCarthy’s false assertions. Murrow’s desire was to be a ‘voice to the voiceless.’
Murrow didn’t give up against McCarthy. He wouldn’t stand for injustice, even when other journalists feared the Senator and backed off. They feared of what might happen to them if they also chose to strive for and deliver truth to the public.
Murrow eventually uncovered McCarthy’s intentions using the elements of journalism.
No comments:
Post a Comment