Good Night and Good Luck

The plot of Good Night and Good Luck is one that has a huge amount of relevance in today’s news climate.  George Clooney’s film follows Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) as he and his news team investigate and report on Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Permanent Sub-committee on Investigation in the 1950’s. The premise is  based on the real life conflict between McCarthy and Murrow/CBS, which makes the film all the more powerful.  The major news stations of today are all owned by the same people (or basically the same) and very rarely do we see newscasters putting their necks on the line in pursuit of the truth (and if they do they’re deemed too liberal) making the ideas in Good Night and Good Luck especially poignant.

Good Night and Good Luck is a film about overcoming fear and speaking up for what’s right, especially when it means putting yourself at risk.  It’s a film that shows us what the media and news should and could be capable of if they dared to confront the corporations behind them.  I find it to be incredibly inspiring.  The speech below, from the end of the film where Murrow is discussing the power of television and the news says it all:

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. Good night, and good luck.

Watch this film to find out why is pushed the envelope and be sure to takepart with a great independent news source, Alternet.org