1. The McCarthy Era:

2. TV News in 1953
Today Show stars David Garroway and J. Fred Muggs
NBC’s Camel News Caravan and CBS TV News – 15 minutes of filmed newlsreels with anchor readings
Television news emphasized visual stories: press conferences, photo opportunities, local disasters
Stringers, loosely allied with networks, provided most news coverage
Radio’s tradition of news analysis was absent from TV. Exception: See It Now

3. Red Channels
Red Channels named dozens of TV and radio writers, actors, producers, directors, executives as Communist sympathizers.
Shows began disappearing from TV and radio.
Actors and actresses were suddenly dismissed from series.
Blacklist management became part of the industry.

4. Edward R. Murrow
Became famous to US audiences for reporting from London for CBS during the Blitz in World War 2
Perhaps the most-trusted journalist of his time.
In 1951, started a weekly TV news broadcast, See It Now. (He also did a celebrity interview show called Person to Person.)
In March 1954, See It Now aired “A Report on Sen. Joseph McCarthy.”

5. Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI)
US Senator
In 1950, became the face of an anti- Communist campaign in the US. The term “McCarthyism” originated then to describe his tactics.
He accused many government workers of being communists, often with no evidence. He led Senate hearings to interrogate them.
In 1954 the US Senate voted to censure him.

6. Murrow vs McCarthy 1951 - Murrow and Fred Friendly create See It Now
See It Now covers the dismissal of Lt. Milo Radulovich from the Air Force because his family was thought to be Communist sympathizers
See It Now runs several segments against McCarthy
“The line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one, and the junior senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly.”

7. Good Night and Good Luck
David Straithaim plays Edward R. Murrow
George Clooney plays CBS producer Fred Friendly
Film uses actual footage of Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI)
Other characters
William Paley, CEO of CBS
Don Hollenbeck, CBS News anchor accused of being a “pinko”
Lt. Milo Radulovich, separated from the US Air Force in 1953
Annie Lee Moss, Pentagon worker accused of being a Communist
Film begins and ends with Murrow’s speech to the RTNDA in 1958