Journalists should see it

Rating: 9/10 (3 February 2007)

George Clooney directed & wrote, re: true story of Edward R. Murrow as lone journalist up against McCarthy's witch hunt and American security paranoia. Timely stuff, straightforward, no hanky-panky Hollywood fluff. Clooney turns out to be an interesting and informed guy. It was nominated for everything, but won only lesser awards for cinematography (filmed in stark black & white), but it did win more recognition overseas in Australia and Europe. One only hopes that American journalists watched it! Perhaps many reporters were indeed inspired by this timely reminder of the heroic Murrow, since it appears that the media in 2005 began to "speak truth to power" and to openly question the executive decisions being made -- e.g., about the flooding of New Orleans, the occupation of Iraq, the sudden loss of habeas corpus rights, the extraordinary renditions of kidnapped civilians out to secret prisons where torture is routine and legal trials are nonexistent, about the distorted and fabricated "facts" to persuade Americans into the war, and more recently against the proposed strikes on Iran. That's an incredible list of journalistic duties, and compared with what Murrow was up against, we live in a darker and more disturbing time. Clooney knows this, has said as much, and ought to be thanked for reminding us of Murrow's courage, now needed doubly.