A routine platelet donation became an awakening as I had a metaphor about the sorry state of broadcast journalism thrust into my face today.
More below the fold.
Good Night and Good Luck
"If we were to do the Second Coming of Christ in color for a full hour, there would be a considerable number of stations which would decline to carry it on the grounds that a Western or a quiz show would be more profitable."
-Edward R. Murrow
Today was my first day off since last Wednesday, so I decided to sleep in and then donate platelets whenever I woke up. Donating platelets is really the only way I can catch myself up on good movies. I don't have the time or the money to actually set aside an afternoon, buy a ticket and invest a few hours at the theater unless it's a very special occasion. Avatar and Inception were the only two movies I actually saw on the big screen out of all the great movies that came out in 2010. But by donating platelets regularly, I can watch any film from a surprisingly excellent collection of movies that Mississippi Blood Services sets aside for their platelet donors. It's good to have the option of good entertainment while simultaneously saving lives by lying on a bed with a needle in my arm for two hours.
Today, I chose the 2005 film Good Night and Good Luck, named after Edward R. Murrow's signature sign-off. for those who haven't seen it, the movie describes the true story of how Murrow, the Elvis Presley of journalism, defied the corporate heads at CBS who told him not to go after Senator Joseph McCarthy in his reporting. Murrow decided that in this case, there were not two equal sides to the story, but only one true side. Edward R. Murrow and his colleagues in the CBS newsroom put together slam-dunk investigative reports each week that exposed McCarthy's egregious abuses of the Constitution and judicial precedent in his Congressional committee on anti-American activities. Eventually, McCarthy's colleagues on the panel realize that their colleague is abusing his power in his reckless witch hunts of people he accused of Communist activities, and they turn the tables and censure Sen. McCarthy. All of this happens because of Murrow's fearless reporting.
Later in the film, Murrow and his partner, Fred Friendly, are confronted by a CBS executive who decides to relegate their show to a lesser-watched time slot because of Murrow's courageous, earth-shattering journalism. His reason is that the advertising dollars might not come in for a show that continuously challenged and changed the status quo.
This was the CBS of back in the day, back when the FCC first licensed airwaves deemed public property to TV networks. The deal was, these networks were leasing these airwaves, which belonged to the American people, to turn a profit from entertaining and advertising. The deal was that these networks were required to "give back" to the people by having a half hour of news every six hours. these were the days when the news was considered too important to the public good, and separate from sales and ad revenue. This was when guys like Murrow and Cronkite regularly took the airwaves to inform the public through simple facts and video about what their elected leaders were up to here and abroad.
At the end of the movie, Murrow is being presented with an award. At the end of his speech, he gives the audience a sobering statement about TV broadcast journalism, and the need for networks to inform the public as well as entertain.
"If we go on as we are, then history will take its revenge, and retribution will not limp in catching up with us. Let us dream to the extent of saying that on a given Sunday night the time normally occupied by Ed Sullivan is given over to a clinical survey of the state of American education, and a week or two later the time normally used by Steve Allen is devoted to a thoroughgoing study of American policy in the Middle East. Would the corporate image of their respective sponsors be damaged? Would the stockholders rise up in their wrath and complain? Would anything happen other than that a few million people would have received a little illumination on subjects that may well determine the future of this country, and therefore the future of the corporations? To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention.
But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box."
-David Straithairn as Edward R. Murrow, "Good Night and Good Luck"
The woman donating in the chair next to mine was watching daytime programming on CBS on the screen next to mine. As I watched Edward R. Murrow defy his bosses in the corporate media to inform and educate the public in the 1950s, I watched a travesty on the screen right next to it. On CBS in 2010, a 5-year-old beauty pageant star named Little Eden is wearing tights and shaking herself on camera in front of four middle-aged female "journalists" clad in fashionable clothes and too much makeup, who proceed to compliment the little girl on her dancing and fashion sense. I was so moved by what I watched that I had to take a picture.
A Fitting Metaphor
"Just once in a while let us exalt the importance of ideas and information."
-Edward R. Murrow
The picture above perfectly describes two poignant analyses, in two concise images.
On the left is the portrayal of Edward R. Murrow, the CBS journalist in the 1950s whose reporting led to the investigation and censuring of a United States Senator. On the right is Little Eden, being interviewed today on CBS' "The Talk."
Murrow was not only a journalist, but a prophet. He saw what corporate and commercial influence was doing to the media, to the public discourse, and to journalism itself. Today, it is obvious to see the purpose of network news is not to inform us or challenge authority, but to entertain us with shiny graphics, animated introductions, pretty faces on camera and "controversial" pundits trying to outdo each other with egregious partisanship and extremist rhetoric. Worst of all, network news is now widely perceived to simply be an engine for ignoring/obfuscating/hiding the truth in return for corporate ad dollars for their respective networks.
An honest media is the cornerstone that holds Democracy together. the public must be informed; without reliable, credible facts and information, the American public becomes complacent and disinterested with current affairs. With no honest news media to hold the rich and powerful accountable, the rich and powerful will run roughshod upon a complacent public, and society will fall. Murrow has no equal today, but I hope all journalists look upon his example for inspiration, and always choose to seek truth, hold our leaders accountable for their actions and do so with full knowledge that their controversial actions may result in retaliation.
Telling the truth isn't hard to do- all it requires is courage and conscience. I wish there was some action I could point my readers to take, but I don't know of any. I hope everyone, not just journalists, can at least grow to hunger constantly for truth, and yearn for knowledge. I hope all truth-seekers and truth-tellers can draw inspiration from these two quotes.
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
-George Orwell
"Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit."
-Edward R. Murrow