Throughout some of America’s most historic events, there was always one person who the people tuned into everyday to hear the news. Through his modesty and dedication in delivering the news, Walter Cronkite, was dubbed the “most trusted man in America,” in a 1972 Oliver Quayle poll. After beating the President, Vice President, U.S. Senate, and House of Representatives, and all other journalists, during one of America’s most troubling times, Americans believed he “would not knowingly deceive them.” (PBS)
Walter Cronkite helped solidify American’s trust in the news. During WWII, Cronkite signed up at a war correspondent and covered the air war against Germany from England and also the Allied invasion of North Africa “from the deck of a ship bombarding the Moroccan coast.” (PBS) On his return home, Paramount put him in a newsreel where he reported on the North African Campaign. He continued to cover historic events such as the Battle of the Bulge, and even the Nuremberg trials. While covering the Cold War in Moscow, Ed Murrow offered him a job on television at CBS, where he would conti...
The battle between Journalist Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy is a fight that went beyond limits on television in 1954 (http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/mar/30/ggod-night-and-good-luck-george-clooney-edward-murrow-reel-history). Edward R. Murrow earned his fame from his career with CBS News that began in 1935 (SITE MOVIE). Following World War II, Murrow worked with a fellow reporter, Fred Friendly on a program called Hear It Now. Both were successful in the sense that the program was popular and showed on television, which was later called See It Now. Although Murrow and Friendly televised many new reports in their careers, the most recognized and historically remembered contribution was the battle they had with Senator McCarthy on See It Now (http://www.coldwar.org/articles/50s/Murrowvs.McCarthyism.asp). Murrow used his career in
The film, “Murrow vs. McCarthy” had introduced the development of news media and at the same time, in-depth telling the social political, economic and cultural changes in United States during the cold war. After World War II, the shadow of the war have not disappeared, the cold war atmosphere shrouded in the American’s minds. The United States was not only afraid of Soviet attack, but that dissidents will penetrate into the government to overthrow the current rule. The film had showed the conflict between television journalist Edward Murrow and the United States senator in the states of Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy.
Clare Boothe Luce, an American journalist and politician, delivered a speech in 1960 to the Women’s National Press Club in front of the American press to criticize journalists for the misinformation they publish in order to challenge them to start publishing the truth rather than writing what the public wants to hear. Luce appeals to the audience of journalists using her role as a politician, comparison, and emphasis to persuade journalists to start writing the truth, no matter how dull, in order for American citizens to truly understand what is going on in today’s society. Throughout the speech, Luce speaks to the audience of journalists about how the information they release shouldn’t be falsified for a myriad of buyers or views. Although
“Murrow, McCarthy and the media frontier analyzed” also discusses how “we as a country walked into the war in Iraq without the media doing its job…It may be official blacklisting or maybe not, but deception is just as possible today in different forms (Sasanow, 3).”
Edward R. Murrow’s profound impact on the field of journalism defines much of what the modern news media industry is today. Edward R. Murrow’s career offers aspiring journalist a detailed set of standards and moral codes in how a journalist should receive and report the news. The development of CBS is largely attributed to Murrow, and derives from his ambitious attitude in utilizing the television and radio to deliver the news. Murrow gained a stellar reputation in the minds of American’s during WWII by placing himself in the heart of the war, and delivering information through radio in his famous This is London broadcasts. His battles with Senator Joseph McCarthy are largely referred to as his most prominent achievement in which Murrow exposed the unfair practices of Senator McCarthy in his wild accusations on those in the American public of being affiliated with communism. At the RTNDA conference Murrow arguably deliver his most famous speech, which included his hopes and fears of the news media industry in years to come. Although much of today’s news media industry would be held in disdain in the mind of Murrow his practices are still referred due and held in high regard by his contemporaries and fellow aspiring journalist. Edward R. Murrow set the standard of American journalism, and had the largest individual impact on the news media industry in history.
In “Wires and Lights in a Box,” the author, Edward R. Murrow, is delivering a speech on October 15, 1958, to attendees of the Radio-Television News Directors Association. In his speech, Murrow addresses how it is his desire and duty to tell his audience what is happening to radio and television. Murrow talks about how television insulates people from the realities in the world, how the television industry is focused on profits rather than delivering the news to the public, and how television and radio can teach, illuminate, and inspire.
This investigation evaluates the significance of the role the media played in helping the Allie Forces win World War Two. To be specific, World War Two occurred between the years of 1939 to 1945. A brief synopsis of the developments of media outlets and their importance prior to the war will be investigated. Leaders of all the Allie Forces will be evaluated in this essay. The essay will focus primarily on the rise of media impact on the citizens of the United States, France and the United Kingdom. The Soviet Union will be mentioned but only minor. Two of the sources used in this essay Freedom Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War Two by Arthur Herman and World War II in Europe by World Book: Chicago are evaluated and used in this essay.
Woodward and Bernstein's undertaking constructed the cornerstone for the modern role of the media. The making of the movie about the Watergate Scandal and the ventures of the two journalists signify the importance of the media. The media’s role as intermediary is exemplified throughout the plot of the movie. The movie is the embodiment of journalism that guides future journalists to progress towards the truth, no matter what they are going up against. It was the endeavor of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that led them to the truth behind the president’s men. They showed that not even the president is able to deter the sanctity of journalism in its search of truth. The freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, and people’s right to know account for the same truth that journalists pursue; the truth that democracy is alive and will persist to live on.
The 1970s marked the beginning of television's rise in influence. According to Luis Leibovich's, Watergate and The Press, for over 70 years the presidents and their advisors controlled the media. The presidents created positive relationships with the media. The president and his staff controlled when and how information could be circulated. John Dean explains that, “Before Watergate, presidents were given the benefit of the doubt by the media. After Watergate, they were presumed to be doing the wrong thing until proven otherwise. The burden had shifted.” After Watergate reporters had a different perspective on government. After Watergate the media proudly took on the role of political watch dog. The media would insure justice by adopting an unrestrained role. The post watergate media became more independent and less naive. They wanted answers and would do everything to get them. No longer did the media display the president on a pedestal like they had in the past. As a result to the media change the public's perspective changed as well. This transformation caused people to question their elected government officials and demand
GateKeeping is the control over the selection of content treated by the media usually thought to be in the hands of a few news editors who act as guardians of the information. Basically they are the people who determine the stories and information we get to hear. I would say that the gatekeeper at Fox News is Rupert Murdoch and his team because he is the founder at Fox News and he owns so much of the media that his team has to be the one making the calls on what type of news they want to talk about. The film shows gatekeeping in the works when they show the memos that Fox News sends out discussing what the anchors are and aren't allowed to talk about and how they should talk about certain topics. For example when one of the memos stated “Let’s refer to the U.S Marines we see in the foregrounds as “sharpshooters” not snipers, which carries a negative connotation" That right there shows how they manipulate the words they say to get the information to come out exactly how they want the viewers to perceive it just by changing one word. By doing things like that it twists all the facts and gives people the wrong idea
The introduction of the internet to modern society has brought about a new age of information relation. Since there is no longer a need to wait until the next print day, news from all over the world is available at a person’s fingertips within hours or even minutes of the event. With this advent of such easily accessible information, new problems for the news media have also arisen. Aside from potentially losing good economic standing because newspapers are no longer being purchased in the quantities they used to be, the credibility of the information itself is also put into question. No one would argue that credibility of news sources is unimportant, but there is a discrepancy in what takes precedence; economy and speed or getting the information out correctly at the first publishing by taking the time to make sure all facts are checked. The importance of having a system of checks on all information submitted is paramount. People trust what they read and believe it to be so without always questioning. If all information were to not be checked thoroughly, there would be instances where people read an article only for information included to be wrong and they go on believing such information. This can be very dangerous as misinformed people make misinformed decisions. With an increase in errors being made by citizen bloggers and even major publications, many are worried that journalistic ethics and credibility in the news media are being sacrificed in order to maintain swiftness in the news circuit and to retain personal profits. Though getting information to the masses quickly is a major part of the media’s importance, this should not mean that the credibility of that information being presented should be sacrificed for it...
Encyclopedia of the New American Nation. Television – TV news and the early Cold War. 2013. The. Web. The Web.
Americans look to the press to provide the information they need to make informed political choices. How well the press lives up to its responsibility to provide this information has a direct impact upon Americans: how they think about and act upon the issues that confront them.
Truth can be defined as conformity to reality or actuality and in order for something to be “true” it must be public, eternal, and independent. If the “truth” does not follow these guidelines then it cannot be “true.” Obviously in contrary anything that goes against the boundaries of “truth” is inevitably false. True and false, in many cases does not seem to be a simple black and white situation, there could sometimes be no grounds to decide what is true and what is false. All truths are a matter of opinion. Truth is relative to culture, historical era, language, and society. All the truths that we know are subjective truths (i.e. mind-dependent truths) and there is nothing more to truth than what we are willing to assert as true (Hammerton, Matthew). A thing to me can be true while for the other person it may not be true. So it depends from person to person and here the role of perception comes into play. As truth is a vital part of our knowledge, the distinctions between what is true and what is false, shape and form the way we think and should therefore be considered of utmost importance. We often face this situation in real life through our learning curves and our pursuit of knowledge to distinguish between what is true and what is false. The idea of there being an absolute truth or also known as universal truth has been debated for centuries. It depends on many factors such as reason, perception and emotion.
The media is sometimes called the “Fourth Estate” because of its influence in shaping the course of politics and public opinion. Some people are influenced by what they read or hear and others are not. There is a well-known psychological process called selective attention. Wilson, Dilulio, and Bose define it as “paying attention only to those news stories with which one already agrees.” (290)