"Goodnight and Good Luck" Movie Review

 

    Even before this class I have watched "Goodnight and Good Luck" several times. I also watched it last spring in Professor Smith's Media Law and Literacy class. Just by seeing the old time black and white film you would probably think it was filmed in the mid 1900s but it was filmed in 2005, directed by George Clooney. The film analyzes and shows how powerful the media is in political and personal terms. 

    The professional newsmen believe in American freedom. One of the newsmen Edward R. Murrow, believes that Sen. Joseph McCarthy is trying to take down "the American freedoms" by lying, overpowering, and then is destroyed by newsmen who actually tell the truth. 

Although, the main person who brings him down is Edward Murrow, who is a television and radio journalist. His radio broadcasts led him to be one of the most famous newsmen in television history. There are several times throughout the movie where he is backed up by producers and directors of his network which is CBS. But there are also some scenes where CBS loses sponsors because of Murrow and McCarthy's relationship in how it looks bad for the media. 

    All in all, I believe that "Goodnight and Good luck" portrays very well how even today not everything you see in the media is true, and behind the scenes many journalists do not get along with each other as much as they portray.     

EOTO #4 Political Cartoons

 

    Many people may not be sure of what a political cartoon entails or where they came from, besides just being in newspapers.  A political cartoon is a cartoon found in a newspaper or magazine article, or political website. They make a point about a political issue or event. When found in a newspaper they are right next to the editorial columns.  Political cartoons can even be humorous, if you can understand the issue they are discussing, as some of it comes across a sarcastic humor. A good political cartoon should make you think about current events, but also sway your opinion toward the cartoonist's point of view. 

    Political cartoons have been in American history since political dissent, in other words a very long time. A great example of this would be Benjamin Franklin's 1753 "Join or Die" showed how a cartoon artist can turn a complex political issue into a single potent image. Although even today, political cartoons still remain a staple of newspaper's editorial pages. They also have a lot of competition with the TV and Internet as a news source. 

    Satire is implicitly protected by the First Amendment yet it still comes under legal attack. Defamation is the idea of a claim that encompasses false statements and facts to harm another's reputation. Although there is an argument: Satire is not meant to be believed by the audience. It's an exaggeration of an idea or person. Overall, the importance of political cartoons is to shift gears/ provide a break from a political discourse, and to illustrate and discuss stories ways that news channels and news articles cant. 

Benjamin Franklins Viral Political Cartoon

History of Political Cartoons