"Good Night, and Good Luck"

During a time in American history where communism was deathly feared, Edward Murrow stood up against those who were making communism out to be something that it wasn't. Murrow, the former CBS journalist, on many occasions called out politician Joseph McCarthy as McCarthy was often known for drawing conspiracies that were non-existent. In particular, accusing his rivals and political foes of being communists. People were afraid of communism mostly because they weren't educated on the topic, and McCarthy took advantage of peoples' lack of knowledge on the topic by making it seem like he was more patriotic than any of his foes. Murrow not only criticized McCarthy's ridiculous accusations, but he also called out the government on their handling of Milo Radulovich, a member of the USAF that was facing sanctions because his father subscribed to a Serbian newspaper and his sister had somewhat radical political views. McCarthy's response to Murrow's criticism was to simply point out that Edward Murrow was himself a communist; a fact that is completely untrue. The story revolves around Murrow's career in the 50's, but the behind-the-scenes message is one that Murrow endorsed many time: television should more often be used to inform the public of what is going on around them. Murrow's view was that journalists have a civil duty to report the truth to people, even if it means bringing some fire and criticism to themselves. In a world where television is dominated by reality shows and political programs whose content is often so ridiculous it's comical, it seems we have to a point gone in the direction where Murrow hoped we wouldn't. American journalists do inform their audience, but it is often that news is spiced up or coupled up with untrue speculation, in order to make money and get more readers.