Goodnight, and Goodluck

I really enjoyed the movie we watched in class the other day. It overlapped well with everything currently going on in the world and gave a different perspective of a period we were not a part of. There were many famous people in the movie and it was interesting to see how each of their personalities came together for such a dramatic role. I enjoyed learning about the situation that happened in the 1950s because clearly, that was before our time and how they made enormous strides against the government to get their story out, no matter the cost.

I believe each character handled the situation okay. Ed Murrow to me portrayed a man that wanted to get the right story out that would stir up conversation. His other co-workers did as well but he was the leader of the pack from the beginning. The group as a whole wanted to pin down McCarthy, they refused to sit back and be pawns in his game of accusation. It was moving to see what lengths they were willing to go to, the possibility of going to jail or being accused of communism was prevalent but they continued to go after McCarthy. The situation during the movie also showed the true colors of employees at the company who wanted to tell the news and who wanted to be a “good little soldier”. I understand that Paley can't speak against the Senator but he should have been able to defend his company and employees because they were doing their job. When he called Murrow before the show and said “ I stand with you today but not tomorrow”, I understood why Paley said that but, it goes to show how scared he was in a way to take a stand as well. Paley gave that group a hard time before even airing the broadcast but he knew it was the right move for the county to start a conversation. I think as a whole, the group tried to cover all bases making sure everyone was on board and there were no ties to communism so they couldn't be investigated.

Each person was willing to risk something to uphold their principles and I think that speaks volumes about their ethical and moral values. It's important to highlight the time they were in and how severe this situation was to the county. He could have been arrested, they all could have been charged with conspiracy of being a communist, they could have been attacked. But they moved forward with a high head, investigated thoroughly to make sure their story was air-tight with facts and interviews so nothing could be misled. They went after the right people to uphold their principles of the group and I believe did it in the best manner possible. Each one in the group was willing to compromise principles to either protect himself or the people who relied on them. They took many steps to prepare for what was to come. They had an honest conversation about if anyone in the group was remotely connected to a communist act. They made sure to think about each potential threat that could happen after the broadcast went live and thought about how McCarthy would retaliate to their show. It was interesting to see how prepared the group was for a possible attack but were ready nonetheless.

Joe McCarthy, a powerful senator, was abusing his power and honestly not hiding it well. The clips that were shown in the movie portraying him and the investigative interviews that were conducted showed how he was scrambling. He accused many people with no sustainable evidence. He left an interview after 7 questions and lied about not feeling well when the senate or congress decided to indict him. He was an intimidating leader. He had people scared to speak out against him because he would retaliate in full, he knew how to keep people quiet. He was not a good leader in the sense that using fear as a tactic never ends well. But, for his time being the leader he was given the chance to abuse his power but people like the CBS group knew it was a front and took him down at his core.