Good Night & Good Luck

The threat of Communism created an air of paranoia in the United States during the early 1950’s. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin was the man who exploited those fears. CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred W. Friendly decided to take a stand by challenging McCarthy. They chose to expose him for the fear monger he was. Even though their actions took a great personal toll on both men, they stood by their beliefs. In turn, they helped bring down one of the most controversial senators in American history. This important story in American history and politics is shown in the film, “Good Night and Good Luck.” It is directed by George Clooney, written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, and stars David Strathairn, George Clooney and Patricia Clarkson. As mentioned before, "Good Night, And Good Luck" takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950's. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Permanent Sub-committee on Investigations. With a need to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow, and his dedicated staff - headed by his producer Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba in the CBS newsroom – rebel to corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and fear mongering tactics carried out by McCarthy during his communist 'witch-hunts.’ McCarthy claimed that there were over two hundred card carriers in America. An awfully public argument develops when the Senator responds by accusing the anchor of being a communist. In this atmosphere of fear, the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity will prove historic and monumental. The way that they attempted to show McCarthy’s true colors was to run a story on navy pilot, Milo Radulovich, who United States government called a security risk. Radulovich was said to be a risk because his father had attended meetings that could have been in contact with communistic acts. Without having a trial he was