HISTORY... HISTORY... HISTORY

History does always seem to repeat itself, doesn't it?

I mention this because I recently saw the movie Good Night and Good Luck and I was asked why was this movie made recently. The movie depicts the story of Ed Murrow and his controversial report on the doings of the Air force and Sen. Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy is known for his Communist witch hunt during the 1950's. The air force is involved because they were dismissing a private because his father was supposedly a communist supporter. Murrow was credited in the movie for bringing down the Senator by exposing his corruption of power. In actuality, the Senator was already in a downward spiral when Murrow did his report, as reported by Jack Shafer. The movie does leave out and exaggerate some details for dramatic effect and to better capture the directors point of view, but all the same, it proves a point that can be related to today.

So, why now? I believe it's pretty obvious at the fact that they are tying to show the connection between then and now. Back then the nation was in a panic because of the "Red Scare." They were in a hunt for anyone who they suspected to be a communist. Sound familiar? Just replace the word communist with terrorist and the rest of the details fall into place. They have used the movie as a media to make the bold statement of saying, "we are repeating ourselves!" They are trying to remind us of the mistakes we made back then, with both the government and media responsibility. I believe the movie is also trying to encourage people to seek out the truth and remind the journalist of the impact they have on audiences. It is there responsibility and oath to report news without bias or propaganda. Those of us that are media literate know that that is almost impossible and we know to form our own opinions. Those who are not media literate are easily persuaded with false information. This will cause problems much like it did back then, a mass panic without factual evidence.