"Good Night, and Good Luck"

[Keith_Lake]

I've just finished viewing "Good Night, and Good Luck", the recent film about Edward R. Murrow's clash with Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950's. I am in awe of the film and its cast, but I am equally in awe of what Murrow was all about. It all went down long before I was born, but no doubt about it, there were giants in those days.

I put in 16+ years in the TV trenches. Never once did I get the impression that we were doing anything other than churning out product adhering to a formula. There were the occasional "consumer advocate" news pieces, but you never got the feeling we were doing anything particularly memorable. I suppose the closest thing to historical TV in my lifetime was the moon landing and Watergate. The recent memo flap which led to Dan Rather's stepping down was more a pathetic comedy of errors than anything else. Very little present-day TV leaves any sort of lasting impression on the viewer after they switch the set off. It's electronic junk food.

TV today is too preoccupied with glitz, flash, celebrity butt-kissing and seeing how close they can come to saying dirty words without actually saying them (also known as being "edgy" or "pushing the envelope"). In the 1950's, they were basically inventing the new medium as they went along. There was no one telling them what couldn't be done because it had never been done before. The Murrow-McCarthy battle was one of the earliest shining examples of the true potential of the new media. True, Murrow did his share of celebrity fluff interviews, but his work in the hard journalism area has become his legacy. If
you haven't seen the movie, by all means hasten thyself to the nearest video emporium and check it out.

Now, as Katie Couric prepares to assume evening anchor duties for CBS, I say to you all, "good night and good luck".

KL

<a href="http://home.nc.rr.com/gttyson/lastradio.html">The Last Radio Station<a>

 

[bpatrick]

Re:

> I've just finished viewing "Good Night, and Good Luck", the
> recent film about Edward R. Murrow's clash with Senator
> Joseph McCarthy in the 1950's. I am in awe of the film and
> its cast, but I am equally in awe of what Murrow was all
> about. It all went down long before I was born, but no
> doubt about it, there were giants in those days.
>
> I put in 16+ years in the TV trenches. Never once did I
> get the impression that we were doing anything other than
> churning out product adhering to a formula. There were the
> occasional "consumer advocate" news pieces, but you never
> got the feeling we were doing anything particularly
> memorable. I suppose the closest thing to historical TV in
> my lifetime was the moon landing and Watergate. The recent
> memo flap which led to Dan Rather's stepping down was more a
> pathetic comedy of errors than anything else. Very little
> present-day TV leaves any sort of lasting impression on the
> viewer after they switch the set off. It's electronic junk
> food.
>
> TV today is too preoccupied with glitz, flash, celebrity
> butt-kissing and seeing how close they can come to saying
> dirty words without actually saying them (also known as
> being "edgy" or "pushing the envelope"). In the 1950's,
> they were basically inventing the new medium as they went
> along. There was no one telling them what couldn't be done
> because it had never been done before. The Murrow-McCarthy
> battle was one of the earliest shining examples of the true
> potential of the new media. True, Murrow did his share of
> celebrity fluff interviews, but his work in the hard
> journalism area has become his legacy. If
> you haven't seen the movie, by all means hasten thyself to
> the nearest video emporium and check it out.
>
> Now, as Katie Couric prepares to assume evening anchor
> duties for CBS, I say to you all, "good night and good
> luck".
>
> KL
>
> The Last Radio Station
>
There's been a controversy in Murrow's hometown, Greensboro, NC,
over the naming of a school in his honor. Opponents say his name
should not grace the school since he never worked for the Guilford
County school system, and it looks like they're going to have their
way. But as a letter writer in today's Greensboro News & Record
pointed out, Murrow might not have worked for the Guilford schools
but he educated the rest of the world.

BTW, Murrow's original signoff was "So long and good luck," a phrase
he picked up in England. At some point, perhaps when he started his
wartime broadcasts from London, he changed it to the familiar, catchier
phrase. His former speech teacher suggested he add the pause: "Good
night (pause) and good luck," but the pause is shorter, perhaps a
fraction of a second, than most people think.

And even though "Person to Person" was higher-rated than "See It Now,"
Murrow always tried to take it beyond "fluff" interviews. He acknowledged
that he didn't like doing "Person to Person" but it created the goodwill
he needed to do the potentially-controversial broadcasts like the one
on Joe McCarthy. ("Person to Person" did make him a millionaire when
he sold it to CBS.)

As to Katie, Brian, Elizabeth, et. al., I'm not sure we've reached
the point where local-news values have taken over at the networks,
but let's face it: no matter how much experience any of them have,
they weren't hired because they look like Murrow (or Cronkite).
I think the networks realize the evening news is an endangered species:
the traditional audience is dying off; there are alternatives such as
CNN, Fox News Channel, and the Internet; some affiliates would like a
short national insert into their local newscasts; and getting a younger
audience means younger, prettier faces and more emphasis on celebrities.
I don't like it one bit, but I'm prepared to concede that CBS's hiring
Katie is an act of facing reality.

In the meantime, I agree with you: "Good Night And Good Luck" is
must-viewing, not only as a piece of broadcast history, but as a
cautionary tale of what could happen if a demagogue got too popular.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by bpatrick on 04/19/06 02:40 PM.</FONT></P>