When I watched the movie Good Night and Good Luck, I saw the assiduous efforts of honest reporters present their audience with news that they needed to know. Edward R. Murrow lead the way as he put his job on the line in order to remain faithful to the truth. Even though he would eventually be demoted to Sunday afternoon show time (in which he chose to leave CBS instead of report on Sundays) he left an indelible mark on his viewers because he did not see the ends of his reporting justifying the means.
Edward R. Murrow was able to leave CBS with a clear conscience and a dignity that was built on “being loyal to the audience.” Instead of being agenda driven, and having a political bias, he took the hard way out and reported the news that every reporter was too timid to report. Even when Murrow’s boss said, “We don’t make the news Ed, we report on the news,” Murrow knew that although this was true, it is also the reporters duty and obligation to report all of the facts to his audience in order to let the audience decide on the matters themselves.
In Elements of Journalism we read about comprehensiveness and the importance of not leaving out important details. Murrow did just that as he uncovered Joseph Mcarthy’s ploy to slander against those who he accused as communists. In Murrow’s farewell speech he talked about journalism as an instrument that shouldn’t be used to simply entertain but that it should teach and inspire. He went on to say that this can only be done though “when people have the determination to use it towards those ends, otherwise it is only wires and a box.”
No comments:
Post a Comment