Murrow: What's The Big Deal?
By CBSNews.com's Ellen Crean
As "Good Night, and Good Luck" picks up steam in its run to the Oscars March 5, people who haven't seen the movie are asking: "What's it about?" If those people are of a certain age, you're likely to get a blank stare when you breezily reply, "It's about the McCarthy hearings and how Edward R. Murrow handled the story."
McCarthy? Murrow?
As large as those names loom in modern history, there are plenty of people (mostly very young) who don't know who they are. Or, if they do know, it's often the kind of vague recognition that belongs to Pet Rocks or the 8-track tape deck.
Murrow, the subject of the Oscar-nominated film "Good Night, and Good Luck," delivered more than 5,000 broadcasts and was extremely influential in shaping the formats for radio and television news. Before moving into television, Murrow spent nearly a decade in London reporting on radio for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), before returning to the U.S. in 1946.
What do you say to someone who gives you that "Good Night, and Good Luck" blank stare? How do you describe what Murrow did and why it was such a big deal?
Back in the '50s, Sen. Joseph McCarthy was not a 300-pound gorilla or even a 1,000-pound gorilla. He was King Kong. He was Godzilla. He was a political Goliath who got where he was by playing on the public fear of Communism.
Edward R. Murrow was the 98-pound weakling, with no political influence. But he was also a David who loaded his slingshot with common sense and passion – and enough footage of McCarthy to illustrate the lack of substance behind the senator's rhetoric.
Imagine you work for a big company where a lot of petty theft has been going on. One day, a co-worker's cell phone is stolen. A manager from another office comes in, looks around the room, and announces to everyone that you are the thief. When you ask for proof, the manager says you're well known for making phone calls. Some of your other co-workers have seen you on the phone. Your colleagues can't deny that.
Then someone from yet another office comes in and shows video of this manager in other offices, making similar accusations, repeatedly offering no proof to lend integrity to his words. This person points out that the unfounded accusations are causing disharmony and paranoia in the office. Your colleagues can't deny that.
That's just one way of explaining the political atmosphere when Murrow went head-to-head with McCarthy. The clout wielded by the senator was considerable, and it was a big deal that someone was willing to challenge him.
It was no news that Murrow certainly had a lot of moxie; he flew along with more than 20 bombing missions over Germany during World War II, in addition to making his famous broadcast from the rooftops of war-torn London.
But admiration of Murrow doesn't stem from action-movie heroics. He is revered mainly for exposing wrongs that were plain to see – but only after they were exposed. Most other people were too intimidated to lift the curtain, many fearful that they would be painted with McCarthy's "commie" brush.
Quotes From Edward R. Murrow
"When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained."
"A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves."
"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men — not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular."
Murrow Honors:
Four individual Emmys for Best News Commentator or Analyst as well as one for Most Outstanding Personality
Honorary degrees from five universities, including one in law from the University of North Carolina
A Look-TV Award ("See It Now")
Sylvania Television Award ("See It Now")
Variety Showmanship Award ("See It Now")
1952 "Program of the Year," the National Association for Better Radio and Television, "See It Now"
Peabody Award for the "See It Now" program spotlighting Sen. Joseph McCarthy (March 9, 1954)
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. As "Good Night, and Good Luck" picks up steam in its run to the Oscars March 5, people who haven't seen the movie are asking: "What's it about?" If those people are of a certain age, you're likely to get a blank stare when you breezily reply, "It's about the McCarthy hearings and how Edward R. Murrow handled the story."
McCarthy? Murrow?
As large as those names loom in modern history, there are plenty of people (mostly very young) who don't know who they are. Or, if they do know, it's often the kind of vague recognition that belongs to Pet Rocks or the 8-track tape deck.
Murrow, the subject of the Oscar-nominated film "Good Night, and Good Luck," delivered more than 5,000 broadcasts and was extremely influential in shaping the formats for radio and television news. Before moving into television, Murrow spent nearly a decade in London reporting on radio for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), before returning to the U.S. in 1946.
What do you say to someone who gives you that "Good Night, and Good Luck" blank stare? How do you describe what Murrow did and why it was such a big deal?
Back in the '50s, Sen. Joseph McCarthy was not a 300-pound gorilla or even a 1,000-pound gorilla. He was King Kong. He was Godzilla. He was a political Goliath who got where he was by playing on the public fear of Communism.
Edward R. Murrow was the 98-pound weakling, with no political influence. But he was also a David who loaded his slingshot with common sense and passion – and enough footage of McCarthy to illustrate the lack of substance behind the senator's rhetoric.
Imagine you work for a big company where a lot of petty theft has been going on. One day, a co-worker's cell phone is stolen. A manager from another office comes in, looks around the room, and announces to everyone that you are the thief. When you ask for proof, the manager says you're well known for making phone calls. Some of your other co-workers have seen you on the phone. Your colleagues can't deny that.
Then someone from yet another office comes in and shows video of this manager in other offices, making similar accusations, repeatedly offering no proof to lend integrity to his words. This person points out that the unfounded accusations are causing disharmony and paranoia in the office. Your colleagues can't deny that.
That's just one way of explaining the political atmosphere when Murrow went head-to-head with McCarthy. The clout wielded by the senator was considerable, and it was a big deal that someone was willing to challenge him.
It was no news that Murrow certainly had a lot of moxie; he flew along with more than 20 bombing missions over Germany during World War II, in addition to making his famous broadcast from the rooftops of war-torn London.
But admiration of Murrow doesn't stem from action-movie heroics. He is revered mainly for exposing wrongs that were plain to see – but only after they were exposed. Most other people were too intimidated to lift the curtain, many fearful that they would be painted with McCarthy's "commie" brush.
Quotes From Edward R. Murrow
Murrow Honors:
