Edward R. Murrow would have been very successful in today's society. Murrow's claim to fame was tackling subjects that no one else had the guts to tackle. For example, in the film Good Night and Good Luck, Murrow takes the risk of questioning the soundness of Senator McCarthy's accusations that various American citizens were communists. During this period no one was willing to challenge McCarthy's accusations for fear of being accused themselves and Edward R. Murrow took the bull by the horns and stood up to McCarthy because he believed that what McCarthy was doing was ethically wrong.
Murrow would be successful today because people appreciate controversial opinions today. In contrast to the news of the 1950's, which was completely scripted and prerecorded, we now are capable of receiving live streaming news of many issues 24 hours a day. Because we have such access to the news we also appreciate hearing many different opinions of the news and different interpretations, similar to what Murrow offered during the 50's. Murrow is comparable to today's Bill Maher. Maher takes on controversial issues and awards people the opportunity to tell their side of the story in an open forum. Maher addresses issues that he has an ethical connection to and helps people to better understand both sides of a controversial issue. Maher and Murrow have very similar approaches to tackling difficult issues, Murrow just had much tighter constraints on what he could say on the news. Had Murrow been a reporter or a news caster today he would have had a much more open forum to express his political views and would have had much more success.
I completely agree with you, especially in the context you are talking about, that Murrow's show would be successful if it was modernized. I even think that if only the topics were modernized and everything else remained the same, black and white and cigarettes and all, that he could still be successful because it would be so different from everything else. But you might not agree with me there :D
ReplyDeleteI like the comparison between Murrow and Maher, except that no one ever accused Murrow of being a comedian. Where is your label with your full name.
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