Good Night, and Good Luck.

I'm going to name my first born son Murrow (pending spousal approval, of course).

I'm not often affected by films, much less by ones which are trying to affect people, but "Good Night, and Good Luck" made me want to be a journalist. Even today when we watched the movie trailer in class, I got choked up when Murrow's words about not living in fear were read. After seeing the film last year, I bought and read "Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism." Murrow's fight against McCarthyism wasn't necessarily a fight at all; it was good reporting. He reported the truth without fear of the repercussions. Now that's courage. Not the type of courage that it takes to win the big game or ask a girl out on a date, but the type of courage that involves putting everything - your livelihood, your reputation, your freedom - on the line for something that you believe in. Murrow had the opportunity to back down, to take threats, and to give up, but he didn't.

"We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were, for the moment, unpopular. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the Republic to abdicate his responsibility."

In Murrow's day, no one would report the truth. Ironically, now every reporter tries to be the watchdog, going for the throat of any public figure who's unfortunate enough to invoke McCarthyism is some small way. In doing so, they often cover the truth. Those reporters are missing the point of Edward Murrow's legacy. He was not a sensationalist; rather he fought sensationalism. He was not quick to cast doubt or mistrust on our government; rather he called for an levelheaded, reasonable, informed approach to democracy. Murrow did not pander to his audience or sponsors for ratings; rather he reported what he felt was right, even at the risk of disassociation. Edward Murrow was a patriot, brandishing that Constitutionally guaranteed more successfully than most in his profession, then and now. Edward Murrow, and what he stood for, is the reason I'm going to be a journalist.