Does anyone on here know who Edward R. Murrow is?

[rndmprsn]

well there is a movie coming out that centers on the time murrow the newsman went after senator joe mccarthy...i don't think i have to relate how much this touches on contemporary themes of freedom of the press, free-speech, lap-dog press etc etc etc...

anyhow...ive tried to start two threads about the new movie 'Good Night, and Good Luck and both have dropped like big sacks of rocks, i thought people on DU would be very excited about this, but i'm starting to think that most people on here don't even know who he is?

anyhow...here's some info on the film:

great video clip @ link.

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http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/goodnightandgoodluck.html

"Good Night, And Good Luck." takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950's America. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Permanent Sub-committee on Investigations (Government Operations Committee). With a desire 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 - defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist 'witch-hunts'. A very public feud develops when the Senator responds by accusing the anchor of being a communist. In this climate of fear and reprisal, the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity will prove historic and monumental.



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other threads if you'd like to check out:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4955600&mesg_id=4955600

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4953031&mesg_id=4953031

and another one someone else started:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4963837

[Wickerman]

1. I am delighted to see this movie made

The courage of Murrow and Co. led to the demise of McCarthy. I would love to see that courage srping forth again.

Can't wait to watch it.

[Greeby]

2. Probably should have added "Senator Joe McCarthy" to the credit list

Can't believe people thought it was an actor :crazy:

[Hello_Kitty]

5. Must've gotten him mixed up with Andrew McCarthy.

That '80s Brat Pack actor. :shrug:

[Jackpine Radical]

13. Or maybe Charlie.

[marbuc]

3. Does anyone NOT know who he was?

He was before my time, but his legacy is legendary.

[cally]

4. Try the same threads in a few days

and folks will pay attention. Everyone is focused on Delay and Meiers today. Also, there's been several recent threads on the movie with some interesting discussion. :hi:

Oh, I do know who Murrow is.

[hang a left]

10. or try it over in GDP

threads have a longer shelf life there.

[mitchtv]

6. of course I know who he is

I was born in '44, I remember the Army-McCarthy hearingd on TV when I camehome from school at lunchtime , too. I guess I was too young to get swept up in the Murrow showdown, but I remember his show. I love G. Clooney and wish him an oscar.

[intheflow]

7. I'm sure many of us know who Murrow was.

We're generally media savvy here on DU, and Morrow is legendary.

This is actually one of the few movies in recent times that I've thought will be worth the $8-12 bucks to see in a theater. I'm really looking forward to it.

[question everything]

8. Yes, this is a problem for George Clooney

You have to be over 35 to have heard of him, while today movie goers are between 18 and 35.

[CTD]

14. I'm not under 35 by much, I but I sure know who Murrow was.

But I have to admit I didn't until Bob Edwards wrote his book about Murrow. Learning of Murrow secondhand via Edwards was extremely fascinating and enlightening. And it (obviously) only points out the current failures among journalists to ask the right questions and be fearless in their quest for teh truth.

Once I knew of Murrow, suddenly I became aware of the somewhat subtle homages to him among journalists (like Keith Olberman's nightly sign-off tribute).

BTW, I'm also starting to really respect George Clooney. Not only did he do a Coen Bros flick, but now this. His politics are dead on as well.

Too bad he's such a womanizer or he could be a great role model.

[Zen Democrat]

23. I don't think it's necessary to know who McCarthy was ...

The point of the movie is to educate people about the Republican assault on the Constitution in the 1950's.

It wasn't just Joe McCarthy -- he had the entire GOP apparatus aiding and abetting him, including J. Edgar Hoover who fed him information on who to go after. McCarthy's downfall was taking on the military -- charging that the Army was full of Communists. The Army-McCarthy Hearings did him in.

Edward R. Murrow made sure the American public understood how dangerous McCarthy was. But I think that, ultimately, McCarthy did himself in. He was a delusional alcoholic.

[BuelahWitch]

9. There is a DVD set out about Murrow and his work

One DVD has the documentary that PBS did on him in the early '90s. It goes into great detail on how Murrow helped to bring McCarthy down.

Hopefully Clooney's movie will make ERM a household name again.

[speedoo]

11. This is #1 on my movies to see list.

#2 is the Truman Cpote movie starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, a very under appreciated actor.

[benburch]

12. Sad he died so young.

Cigarette smoking killed him.

[Sydnie]

15. I even posted the other day that we should set up voters registration

tables outside the theaters on opening night. Perhaps, with posters of overseas articles that tell the truth, side by side a state-side article on the same subject. Could be very powerful to remind people that voting has consequences and that consequence can even reach the very core of the media in our own country. If not posters, then flyers with excerpts similar to the above idea with the web addresses for sites for REAL news coverage.

Just floating the idea again to see what everyone thinks.

[KharmaTrain]

16. You're Serious About The Murrow Question I Hope

Believe it or not, there are some folks here on DU that are older than 30 or 40. LOL

Murrow and William Shrirer turned CBS Radio into the great news network that led to over 40 years of high quality journalism. The work of "Murrow's boys"...Cronkite, Severeid, Daniel Shore, Andy Rooney, Mike Wallace and many more speak for themselves.

A great man not given the credit for making Murrow so great was Fred Friendly...the man who produced most of Murrow's greatest broadcasts and set the tone for CBS News that was later picked up by Don Hewitt. Friendly went on to head Columbia University Journalism school and helped create a generation of top writers and reporters.

I'm looking forward to seeing Clooney's movie. I heard him interviewed and spoke about his years of sitting in the WKRC Cincinatti newsroom...where his father worked...and watching some of those broadcasts. (Somehow I don't think George was old enough to watch the Army/McCarthy hearings that was Murrow's greatest moment...and the media's low point until the last decade).

[ms liberty]

17. I've seen other threads about this...

and of course, Clooney was on The Daily Show last week talking about it. I want to see it in the theater, on opening weekend. IMO, one way we can show how we feel is by seeing it in the theater and making it a box office hit. Plus, it's giving money to a dem(...anyone out there regretting making Ahhnold rich?)
It's getting some good buzz, I'm looking forward to seeing it.

[RSchewe]

18. Who Edward R. Murrow is?!! There is a reason his name is on...

the journalism award. I have been wating for this movie to come out.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. Some of us are old enough to have seen him on live TV

:-)

[KC21304]

20. You bet. " Person to Person "

He interviewed Jack and Jackie Kennedy on that show. He would interview people in their homes, although he was in a studio.

[Zen Democrat]

24. Marilyn Monroe and Lucy & Ricky.

[Lifelong Protester]

21. (raising hand here)

I know who he is and as someone said here, I'll even shell out money to see his story on the big screen.

I think this movie, and ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN should get some BIG play...

Come on, media, fill those shoes.

[nvliberal]

22. Of course. Murrow is the standard by which all TV journalists

are measured against.

I saw the famous "See It Now" broadcasts on McCarthy, as well as "Harvest of Shame," both in reruns when CBS reran them in the early 1970s.

I also remember when he died of lung cancer in 1965.

Of course Murrow wasn't perfect. Not only was he a chain smoker, he was carrying on behind wife Janet's back with Pamela Harriman (then known as Pamela Churchill). This was during WW II, and it was a hell of an affair. Murrow fell hard for her, but eventually Janet won out.

[PlanetBev]

25. I remember Edward R. Murrow

I used to watch him when I was a kid. Anybody here remember "Person to Person?" It was a live interview show that Murrow conducted with people like Marilyn Monroe, JFK and Jackie Kennedy, etc.

He was a man of great courage and integrity and very few of his kind are left anymore. Dan Rather has shades of him and so does David Gregory, also Keith Olberman. I hope someone in the future will stand up to the Repukes the way Murrow stood up to McCarthy.

The fact that I have to pine for the newsmen I grew up with shows how far we've fallen. Something Joseph Pulitzer said rings true to day more that ever:

"A nation will rise and fall with it's press."

[napi21]

26. Oh yes. I remember Person to Person.

That wasn't the name of the show that was on Sunday nights though, I don't think. I was pretty young then, but we went to grandma's house every Sunday. After dinner, everybody sat down in front of the TV and watched Lawrence Welk, Edward R. Murrow, Disney, and somewhere in there, they snuck Liberace.

I don't remember the show order anymore, but I know even us grandkids (ages 6-10) sat there and watched them all.

[OneBlueSky]

27. years ago I had a friend who was a producer for CBS News . . .

his name was Alvin H. Goldstein, and sometime in the early 70s he did a documentary about Murrow . . . I've never seen it, but Alvin was an incredible person who I'm sure did a hell of a job on the project . . .

[Dr Fate]

28. Count me in- I'm very much looking forward to it. n/t

n/t

[fujiyama]

29. Lookin forward to it

I'll be going opening night this Friday night. I have atleast one friend interested in going.

[wiley]

30. Recommended and kicked

One of the last of the people you could trust.