Good Night and Good Luck

I recently watched the movie Good Night and Good Luck, which was written and directed by George Clooney. This film was made in 2005, but takes place in the 1950s. The movie is in black and white and if I had not known this was a newer release, I would have thought it was made in the time of the story-- minus my knowledge of current actors (George Clooney, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jeff Daniels) 

The movie is about the conflict between CBS radio and television journalist, Murrow, and Wisconsin Senator McCarthy. The Senator accused Murrow of being a communist because he supported a person who was taken out of the Air Force due to his sister's political views as well as his father having a subscription to a Serbian newspaper. The men, working at CBS, come together to work against the senator. I feel that the moral of the movie is to not allow the media to control your thoughts or allow you to believe everything that is presented to you.

I feel this film was made today because we are living in a time when many people are controlled by the media. The majority of society believe all that they read and see, but are unaware of it being fact or fiction. In today's world, we are fed many stories about why we are at war. People are being accused of being terrorists because of their race or birth name. People need to have a voice and stand up for what they know and feel is right. My generation is one of "non-voters". I feel that many of my peers don't feel like they have a voice or don't feel that their opinion matters. We live in a country where we are raised with "freedom of speech", but what does that mean to many? We watch television, are fed images, and take whatever it is as fact with little much thought after that. People become sheep, follow the herd, and promote little creativity. How can we have change if everyone is following the same "garbage"? To have change: 1.) people need to identify what is going on, 2.) do their research and find out what the "truth" is, 3.) use their voice. 

In an article titled Clooney Speaks Out About Journalism and Filmmaking As NYFF Opens, he says that he "thought it was a good time to raise the idea of using fear to stifle political debate."

He also says that, "the real teeth of journalism has been missing [recently] but there is still some [good] journalism out there". When he speaks of "good" journalism, he is speaking about one of truth. 

Questions that rise from me is, what information should be considered news' worthy? How can we really know what the truth is?