Good night, and good luck. (2005) focuses on the conflicts between Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin and the
CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow.
The Second World War had just ended (1939-1945) and the former allies became enemies. USSR and USA were fighting but not through physical military interventions. The two super-powers were using geopolitical, ideological and economical weapons, such as, arms race, economic warfare and state embargos, propaganda, espionage… Included in the propaganda was Senator McCarthy’s “witch-hunt”, as it was called, against communism (USSR’s political regime). McCarthy basically accused citizens of being communists or soviet spies, indiscriminately and without much evidences. The Senator’s action was so strong and wide-spread that all the anti-Communist movement of the decade became known as McCarthyism. In this film, we can see how some people acknowledge McCarthy’s fanaticism as absurd and tried to “Took on the Government with Nothing but the Truth”. Edward R. Murrows interpreted by David Strathairn and the co-producer of his program “See It Now” in CBS, Fred Friendly (George Clooney) try to take a stand and expose the Senator for telling lies in order to terrorize his own nation. As well as being a good movie and an accurate representation of the American and world history, Good night, and good luck. also makes other points worth discussing, mostly of interest for the media. We can see how the means of
communication gave their first steps in the themes of “media responsibility” and “media
influence on politics” and analyze them from nowadays perspective, when the subject was more than debated already. Murrows wanted to expose McCarthy because he had a sense of justice and duty to his viewers. He was a journalist and a program host; we had a public that he could not disappoint; he could see that people were being deceived into joining a meaningless hatred wave. He felt he had a responsibility towards the nation. He was in a privileged position to reach the masses and make him believed in. He was in the right place to show Senator McCarthy’s real face and he did it. This is the media responsibility. The means of communication have the visibility and resources to influence the population. The viewers give them their respect, they believe in what they watch on the news; therefore the media cannot disappoint them. The television, radio and newspapers have to respect the public back and that also means they have to give them not “what they want”, not what political or other influence groups want them to believe in, but only the truth. The means of communication have the responsibility to give the audience the most accurate representation of the reality as there can be. This even gave origin to theories based on media as a mirror of the society. Nowadays we know that this is not truth, because what the means of communication show is always a part of the reality and not the whole; a point of view. Nevertheless, it is their responsibility to show as much an impartial and real portrait as they can paint. In this way, it is the media’s job to expose groups which try to manipulate the public opinion and also to give the viewers verified information, and no fake news, bridled witnesses, misinterpreted quotations, tempered images, pre-made opinions or any other things that might lead the public into false beliefs. Another subject in which the film puts a light on is the media influence on politics. Not letting itself be influenced by the powerful politicians created a counter-movement in which the roles are inversed: the politics is influenced by the media. The means of communication have been assuming an extraordinary influence in the public. Almost like law-givers, media are opinion-makers and mostly people play along with it. On the account of McCarthy’s accusations to some of his political opponents of communist inclinations, many people were influenced not to vote for them, which cost some elections to the Democratic Party. In the movie, with the demystification of the Senator’s words in Murrows’ program, a different opinion spread through the nations. The journalist and his guests opened people’s eyes and made them realized they were being deceived which changed the ideas they had about McCarthy. Before the public believed him, then no one could believe him. Just one television show, changed the minds of hundreds of people about an important figure of politics. If it was not for the program who knows what Senator McCarthy’s career would be like; however after the media operates he had no more chances. The means of communication have a big influence on politics because it comes from the influence media has on the public. The viewers are constantly influenced by what is shown to them because they trust the media; but the same viewers are the ones who choose the political representatives. This influence can even be decisive in elections as, for example, in the case of Kennedy versus Nixon the television viewers were influenced to vote for John F. Kennedy due to his young and attractive appearance in contrast with Richard Nixon’s face without make-up. Also the media can influence politics by denunciating less desirable operations which sometimes politicians tend to participate in… For instance, in the Watergate case, the media action was essential for the public to be aware of what was happening.