Elements and Edward

Concerning Elements and Edward

By Steven Fletcher

Gorge Clooney’s “Good Night and Good Luck” (2005) makes a compelling case for vetted and trustworthy news-writing and broadcasting. The film tells the story of Edward R. Murrow’s report on Senator Joseph McCarthy. The story illuminates the epitome of journalism as a discipline of verification and art of making information engaging, relevant, and honest.

People called Murrow the "most trusted man in America.". His news came with an objective method, not with objectivity. The report on McCarthy lacks objectivity when seen through the eyes of "neutral" fairness.  Murrow believed McCarthy a threat to democracy and foundational American beliefs. His perspective lacked any smoked glass. One doesn’t find many anchors requesting to read from a script to ensure the accuracy of their information, in this film, Murrow does.  

He doesn’t sensationalize, and the content of his report on McCarthy belonged to the Senator himself. Murrow composed the account of McCarthy’s own words and images. Before the images aired, he told the audience precisely the purpose of the images. Murrow’s method stood transparent. He let his viewers know his intent, his credibility rested on transparency.  

Murrow’s journalism then, is as Kovach and Rosentiel, authors of The Elements of Journalism, write “a discipline of verification.” Murrow’s most explicit use of an objective method exists in the McCarthy report itself. He added little to what had occurred in McCarthy’s own hearings. Murrow reports t in a way that both engages the audience and makes relevant his material.

Murrow stands as an example of what a journalist needs to do in the age of modern communication. His words cannot insulate, or entertain for the sheer purpose of attracting viewers. A journalist must not say what is merely interesting, but make interesting what needs to be said.