The Signature Sign Off Heard Across America

Good Night and Good Luck. The five words famously known words marking the signature sign off of CBS’s very own Edward R. Murrow. You may be asking yourself who is Edward R. Murrow, or you may already know if you are a fan of him, American history, or broadcasting.

Edward R. Murrow

The movie ‘Good Night and Good Luck‘ was not the first time I had heard the name Edward R. Murrow, but it did tell me who he was because that was the question that came to mind when I heard the name. I learned that he was a legend in broadcast history. He took on and reported subjects of controversy. He did the unbelievable act that all others were too scared to do. He took risks no matter what the consequence. He was there to tell his fans news and news was exactly what he was going to give them, even if it meant putting his job in jeopardy. “Good Night and Good Luck’ was filmed in 2005, but it was filmed in black and white? Yes, the movie was filmed in black and white. I think that it gives the movie a stylistic effect, and also gives more of a 1950s feeling, the era the movie is set in. They also did it in black and white because they used actual footage of McCarthy and it was in black and white, so to be able to use real footage and make it seem real everything would have to match.

March 9th marked the day Murrow set out to attack the most hated communist of the time, Senator McCarthy. Senator McCarthy was the many people hated, but were too scared to stand up to him. Too scared to fight against him. Too scared to give their opinions and tell him he was wrong. A communist believes that the government should own everything that gives a person their freedom. The government would not own just stores and banks, but also peoples homes, cars, and businesses. This means that the social economic status of every person would be the exact same. There would be no low, middle, or high class individuals. There would be no rewards for how hard a person works or how long they attended school to have a better outcome than people that did not try as hard. Murrow, as many others, saw this as a threat. It meant that people would not be able to live freely, but only by the way the government allowed them to live.

Senator Joseph McCarthy

Communist Party

 

Edward R. Murrow was a socialist. Socialism is a system where each individual owns everything they earn. Socialism is the world we are living in today because Murrow took a stand so we could keep our rights and what the United States Declaration declares we have as rights.

Socialist Party

The movie ‘Good Night and Good Luck’ shows the way that Murrow took on Senator McCarthy. He went on air on March 9th, 1955 without the permission from McCarthy or any of his people. Before attacking McCarthy, Murrow made a deal to everyone watching. He stated that McCarthy had his rights to give an answer back to any statement made that night. In the deal Murrow said “Because a report on Senator McCarthy is by definition controversial we want to say exactly what we mean to say and I request your permission to read from the script whatever remarks Murrow and Friendly may make. If the Senator believes we have done violence to his words or pictures and desires to speak, to answer himself, an opportunity will be afforded him on this program.”

Murrow said the question that is the basis of tonights broadcast is that in the end only one party will stay standing and without both parties that the government system will be destroyed. He called McCarthy out for speaking for only one parties treason which was recorded on tape, Candidate Eisenhower met McCarthy and said if he was elected he would seek a way to find communism to come into action, and others. If you want to see the entire conversation click here.

The attack on McCarthy blew up the phones in the offices. Almost all positive calls. The newspapers were the place to find the negative reactions. The New York Times had great reviews on Murrow’s ‘See It Now’ segment on March 9th, 1965 about McCarthy, but the O’Brian had a different view on the topic.

Jack O'Brian

Of course McCarthy responded to Murrow’s attack on him. He called first wanting one of his men to speak to Murrow, Mr. Paley, the Boss at CBS declined. McCarthy then called back a few days later asking for an interview on April 6th. He wanted three weeks so he could prepare himself, and because he was busy. During that interview McCarthy did not respond or answer any questions concerning the statements Murrow had made the previous month about him, but he attacked Murrow. McCarthy gave false facts trying to sobotage Murrow’s good name. Click here to view the whole conversation.

Don Hollenbeck was a CBS newscaster, commentator, and colleague of Murrow and Fred Friendly. The frequent attacks published by Jack O’Brian on the communist debate is believed to be one of the contributing reasons Hollenbeck committed suicide. He died by natural gases. It was found that his stove and oven were turned on, but not lit, leaking gas throughout the entire house.

Don Hollenbeck

McCarthy was thrown from holding the name of being the senate for abusing his power as a senator. He was still in the senate but had little power and was ignored. He preached communism until he died in 1957 on May 2nd due to hepatitis. Hepatitis is inflammation in the liver and his was caused by alcohol because he was an alcoholic.

Edward R. Murrow passed away in 1965 on April 27th due to lung cancer. He developed lung cancer because he was a chain smoker and smoked up to 65 cigarettes a day. Although Murrow did not make a good decision with how he treated his body, he did make a great decision on how he treated his viewers. He showed care and respect, something all broadcasters should do. Without Edward R. Murrow who knows where this country would be. He stood up for each and every american, and for that we thank him. Murrow will never be forgotten. His name will remain legendary.

Edward R. Murrow

The movie ‘Good Night and Good Luck’ is a great movie for future journalists, especially broadcasters. It gives inspiration to those who want to be on TV announcing the news. It shows that a person should stand up for what they believe in because the outcome could be different than what it would have been if no one said anything at all.

Edward R. Murrow’s attack on McCarthy on March 9th, 1954.

“Our history will be what we make of it” Edward R. Murrow

Credit to the Broadcasters!

Broadcasters have a tough job. They work hard to find the information, conduct videos, and report those videos and interviews back to their viewers. What broadcasters do not get enough of is credit from the viewers. If people just stopped and thought about how much work it is to edit a video, write a story, and talk in front of a ton of people then broadcasters would be much more appreciated.

My awesome journalism teacher on the right, Jill Falk.

Broadcast news writers write for the ear. This mean that they give out information, but it is cut into smaller segments so that their audience can understand and comprehend what they are saying. When you read a newspaper or magazine the stories are really long, but if a broadcaster said that much at one time the viewers would be lost and bored because it is just too much to listen to.

The most important thing a broadcaster has to worry about is time. The length of their story does not depend on the word count. It is measured in seconds and minutes. The stories last about 30 seconds. Stories are measured in seconds and minutes. The length of the story is so important to a broadcaster because they also have to show weather, news, sports, and commercials on the news cast. Newscasts usually last either 30 minutes to one hour, and that is such a short amount of time report all of those topics.

Broadcast is a different type of journalism. They have different rules than the rules for print and online journalism. The rules are as followed:

• Write conversationally
• Use short, declarative sentences
• Use present tense
• Avoid abbreviations and symbols
• Spell out numbers
• Add phonetic spelling when possible (Maranda=MAH-ran-DUH)
• Attribution goes at the beginning: “Andre says…”

These rules are necessary to survive in the world of broadcast, and they will also help you to be the best broadcast journalist you could possibly be.

Have you ever wondered how the radio broadcasters know how many people watch a TV show? For example they will say “The World Series game six had 1,000,515 viewers. The first thought that comes to my mind is how the heck do they know this information and find out how many people are watching?  Well ladies and gentlemen I have the answer to that question. The answers are sampling, portable people meters, and diaries. Sampling is surveying a handful of watchers and listeners to gauge the habits of a large group. Portable people meters, also known as PPMs, are electronic devices that people wear which detect broadcast digital signals. Diaries are booklets that people fill out, detailing what they are watching or listening to. Another question you might be wondering is why does this matter? The amount of viewers that watch or listen to a show matters because it sets rates for advertisers. If a lot of people watch a TV show or listen to a radio talk show then advertisers are most likely to buy time to put there commercial because they know people will be watching or listening. Two show that have good TV ratings are the Superbowl and the World Series.

Portable People Meter

As you all know we live in a very tough economy where jobs are hard to come by. But do not fear because broadcast journalism jobs are here! Some of the jobs that are offered in the broadcast journalism field are as follows:

• Producer
• Assistant Producer
• Writer
• Editor
• Videographer
• Reporter/Anchor
• Backpack Journalist
• Web Producer

Now you do not have to fret because you now know that somewhere in the world there WILL be a job for YOU.

To Be or Not to Be A Future Journalist

Creating questions, setting up appointments , interviewing, and turning those words into a story is a part of everyday life for a journalist. Tuesday my college journalism class received the great opportunity to sit in front of a panel of journalist and ask questions about their life and how they got to be where they are today.  The panel consisted of five editors of a well-known online newspaper site called Patch.com and the Patch’s regional editor. Each of them represent a town near the St. Louis area and they, along with their staff, cover everything that goes on whether good or bad in their town. The panel consisted of Joe Barker of the St. Peters Patch, Maggie Rotermund of the Wentzville Patch, Tamara Duncan of the Lake Saint Louis Patch, James Baer of the Ladue-Frontenac Patch, Chase Castle of the Ballwin-Ellisville Patch, and the regional editor Kurt Greenbaum.

Many of the Patch editors started their writing career in their high school newspaper. Others started in college and took off from there. They all went to college, as all journalists do. Baer went to the University of Missouri, also known as Mizzou, as did Rotermund, Barker went to Truman State University, and the others did not mention where they went, but they confirmed that they did.

Chase Castle suggested that when people that are inspired to be a journalist they need to know that to do it professionally you need a degree in journalism. In his opinion the more unique that a person is the better a journalist they will be. He also states that the craft comes first and it is easy to get carried away with the formalized way of doing things but you have to be more creative.

Working to get to the top of the chain in a newsroom does not happen as soon as you get out of school, and if it does then you are an extremely good journalist. To get to the top you have to receive experience in the work field before you are in charge of a whole group of people. Maggie Rotermund’s first job was working for Gannett at The Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home, Arkansas. She won many awards for her work and many APME awards for her beat and political writing. Three years later she became the St. Claire editor for the Washington Missourian newspaper. She has worked hard throughout her life with many recognitions for her work and is now the editor of a great website.

Ever since a young boy at the age of eight James Baer knew he wanted to write about sports. He loved sports and it was his passion. As he got older he reported sports news in his high schools newspaper and went on to college to do the same. Even in college Baer was more worried about what was going on with the sports, especially football, rather than his homework and grades. He later served as a journalist in the Navy where he became a broadcaster, writer, and editor. After that he led many other titles at different jobs that has now landed him a job as the editor at the Ladue-Frontenac Patch.

All of these editors have a life story different from anyone else’s, as does everyone else. They are all extraordinary, and are very talented with their writing skills. Something else they all have in common is their work schedules. Joe Barker gave a wonderful description about his everyday life as a journalist.

“I wake up at 7am, I do two hours of work, then I take a break, two more hours of work, take a break. I take a lot of breaks so I do not go crazy.” Barker said. “Being a journalist is a constant job, and you are never off the clock. I get calls at 1am informing me that that the city hall is on fire. I cannot just ignore the call.”

Tamara Rotermund suggested that if you want to be a journalist then you need to know that it is not a 9-5 job. If that is what you intend then do not be a journalist. You also want to write short stories and just get the information out because no one wants to read an 8000 or 9000 word story.

Being a journalist nowadays is not just having the ability to write anymore, but the ability to do so much more. Extra skills such as photoshop and hands on training classes are recommended by many journalists.

Tamara Duncan is just one of the many journalists with this opinion. She thinks that you need to learn extra skills because if you do not keep up with the evolving world it is hard. She talked about how she used to set up all of her stuff without any devices and now she is editing videos in iMovie. She also stated that to be a writer you have to be a reader. “I know how to write stories because I have been reading newspapers everyday for years.”

Although many journalists think it is important to know these extra skills there are also some journalists that beg to differ.

“Learning and knowing the extra skills is not as important as knowing how to write a story or cover a crime scene. It is very iffy nowadays. You still need to know how to put it together, but it is more important to know what you are looking for. I would rather see a photo of poor quality than read a life old story. I get things submitted to me that are sloppy, but have great photos. I do not care about the extra stuff though, I care about the content.

As we all know, finding a job in this poor economy that we are trapped living in is almost impossible to find any jobs. Especially when the news business is taking one of the hardest hits. People that have always dreamt of being a journalist are now pursuing a different dream because they do not believe there will be a job for them, but they are all thinking wrong.

“In 1970 the percentage of people that received a job in the news business was 80% or maybe even higher because there was nowhere else to get the news. Within a few years of that news broadcasts expanded from 15 minutes to 30 minutes long. Since then the media landscape has changed so much that there are so many places you can get it. The print environment has diminished so much because magazines have niches just as well, but I do not think the market for journalism has diminished,” Kurt Greenbaum said.

Working on the Patch is a great market for journalism. You do not have strict deadlines, and you can be creative and add art to your story. It is a lot less stressful and the editors at Patch love their jobs. They would all suggest that you follow your dreams as a journalist and do not give up, one day this economy will be back on its feet and normal again.

What is Enterprise Journalism?

Enterprise journalism is a style of journalism that the news world would not be able to survive without. You are now probably wondering what is enterprise journalism? Well if you were not, you most likely are wondering now. Enterprise journalism is when a reporter researches and gathers material to create and original story idea that does not depend on a scheduled event and it is a story that no other reporter has. These stories are stories that a reporter comes up with on their own, and it is not someone else’s idea.

The number one best way to get to the top of the chain in a newsroom and be the boss’s favorite is to be an enterprise journalist. Bosses love when a person comes to the table with fresh, new ideas that are not brought to the table in other newsrooms because no one has thought of them yet.

Although enterprise journalism is great and has many advantages such as finding and creating great stories, and being favored in the office, it also has many disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage to enterprise journalism is reporters have to dig deep to find all of the information they need to tell the story; therefore, it is extremely time consuming. This is also bad because not many news rooms have the extra time needed for enterprise journalism investigations.

Although having enterprise journalism in a news room is hard to do, it is not an option for the world to not have it. Without enterprise journalism our world of news would not be the same. If there was no enterprise journalism people would not know any of the information that they find important because enterprise journalism is about the news people find most important in their lives. There would be so much information out there that would not be shared with the world, and not finding that information makes the reporters seem lazy and careless of their job and viewers. Enterprise journalism impacts people because people do not realize what news impacts them personally the most because they do not know about the news unless someone, a reporter, tells them.

Another major piece of advice for people in the newsroom is to BE CURIOUS!!! You look, listen, ask questions, and do not be afraid to ask why. A great way to get the information you need is to talk to local residents in your community about the news you are trying to report. This tip also comes into play with enterprise journalism. You HAVE to be curious to get the information you want. You have to dig up information that is hidden by talking to people and asking them many questions. Eventually the answers will lead you to a better person to ask questions, and eventually to a person that has the answer that you are looking for. I you get afraid to talk to people and ask what happened and why you are just at a disadvantage because you are not putting yourself at your full potential. You have to come out of your shell and get the information that you need. Do not just be a mediocre reporter, be an amazing and over achiever reporter!

Young Believer to Patch.com Achiever

At just the young age of eight years old, James Baer, the editor of the Patch for the Ladue-Frontenac area, knew he was going to be a sports writer when he grew up. He decided he either wanted to play sports or write about them, and he did not have the muscles to play, so he decided to write.

While attending high school Baer wrote for his high school newspaper. He wrote for the sports section. Since high school he has wrote about every sport you can think of, except fencing. He said that is the only sport he has never covered. Including his high school newspaper gig, Baer has been in the newspaper business for 16 years covering sports.

Known as the number one journalism school in the United States, Baer attended the University of Missouri, also known as Mizzou.

“When I was in college I wish someone would have told me to make better grades and study harder,” James Baer said.

Mizzou was not his choice of school because of their well known journalism program, but because he wanted to watch the tigers play football.

“In all of the four year that I attended Mizzou I did not miss one football game. I would go to every game every Saturday,” Baer said.

That shows the dedication he has to sports and why he wanted to be a sports writer. He was truly doing something he loved for the rest of his life.

Baer now works as the editor for Patch.com for the Ladue-Frontenac area. He heard about a job opening from his friend that lives in Fenton. His friend recommended Baer apply for the job. He applied and received an interview with Holly Edgell. He was the last of 24 St. Louis editors were interviewed. He got the job because they were looking for someone that lived in the area, and he lived in the area and was looking for a job.

“Ladue is not an ordinary community, you have to know how the government and the schools work. I cover four private schools and one public school,” Baer said.

A typical day as an editor to James Baer is not possible. He said there is no such thing as a typical day.

“Everyday is different. Some days we have meetings, others we go to schools and interview athletes, students, teachers,” Baer said.

As a journalism Baer said you have to be able to handle tremendous changes. He gave me a great example.

“If you are sitting at your desk writing an article and the fire alarm goes off you have to be able to just get up and leave your work. You cannot stay until finish it,” Baer said.

James Baer does a lot of feature stories and personality profiles. Feature stories are articles about people and something about that person such as if they play sports, they made a difference in the community, or they helped another person.

Baer loves his job because it fits his personality perfectly. He is also in a place that he likes and when he interviews people and write stories he gets a real adrenaline rush. Although he loves his job, he said there are also some things he does not love so much.

“The job is wearing because it is seven days a week. Saturday and Sunday can be just as wearing as a weekday because sometimes we have more work, but sometimes there is less.

James Baer produces a high level of coverage of sports at his Patch. Many people in his Patch also love sports as he does, but probably not as much. He covers all sports in his area and they almost always win.

“The teams in my area tend to dominate all of the teams in St. Louis, and those teams are bigger than the teams in my area,” Baer said.

Media Inside of Open Courtrooms

Does media coverage harm trial defendants?
I would agree that media coverage in a trial does harm the defendant because it can highlight certain points of the trial that dictate which way the case goes. For instance, say that Casey Anthony’s trial that dealt with the murder of her 3 year old daughter, Caylee Anthony, was not recorded by the press and followed by viewers. She has people that defended her and people that wanted her on death row. If the media did not follow her trials all the way through people’s opinions would not be as strong as they would if they did not know anything about what was going on in the case.

Can it bias a jury?
I believe that media coverage in an open court room can bias a jury. It can bias the jury because the jury is made up of individuals that live in the same society and view the same media that everyone else sees. In return this would change their opinion because they are seeing what they believe and then the media hypes up what they get out of the case and if the media believes the opposite of the jury and they make a better judgement then the jury can begin to question what they first thought to be true.

Do cameras turn courtrooms into circuses?
I would have to agree strongly that cameras in a courtroom turn them into a major circus. The cameras are there to catch every second of the trial and share it with the world. In the Casey Anthony trial she and her trial were recorded. If all of the events in her trial were not recorded then much fewer people would of stood outside of the courthouse screaming at the top of their lungs and saying “She is a liar” or “She killed her baby” or “Give her what she deserves!” People sat at home on their couches and watched as her whole life was laid out on the table and discussed in front of millions of viewers. In my opinion, if the cameras had not followed her whole entire case then people would not had made such a mockery about the whole situation of whether she was guilty or innocent.

Should the press be banned from certain kinds of trials?
I think that the press should be banned from certain trials such as murder and rape. These two cases I feel very strong against because people can never judge whether the person being accused is guilty or innocent. Also because if the accused person is actually innocent even though it does not seem like it they can get extremely depressed. When something major in the news happens and the media tells everyone about what is going on is ok, but when they show the whole trial on TV for the whole world to see, I think that is wrong and unfair. For example, Shawn Hornbeck went missing at the age of 12 and the media warned everyone that he was missing. Four years later Ben Ownby was kidnapped. The thought going through many people’s thoughts was that the person that kidnapped Shawn was also the person that kidnapped Ben because they were both done in the exact same way. Four years after Shawn was kidnapped they caught Michael Devlin because he went to far in kidnapping another innocent child. That is a story that everyone wants to follow and it is obvious that Devlin was the person that kidnapped the kids; therefore, it cannot bias the jury or sway the opinion of the public.

Is a Person’s Social Media Site Hurting or Helping Them?

What is the problem with social media?
A majority of high school and college students have some sort of social media outlet that they like to go to. The most popular social media site is Facebook and Twitter. Most kids will limit the amount of vulgarity and obnoxious behavior that appears on their account, but others will post about subjects that no one even cares about such as fighting and drama that is going on at school. If you have a problem then go talk to the person you have the problem with, do not hide behind text and then be nice when it comes to a face-to-face confrontation. Another problem with social media is some kids will post images of them performing illegal behavior. If a person is under the age of 21 they should not be taking pictures of themselves at a party drinking alcohol, and if a person is doing illegal drugs then that is just stupidity.

How does it help kids with their everyday life?
Social media is an outlet for kids to go on when they want to talk to an old friend that may have moved a few years back or maybe they miss friends from when they moved. Kids also go on social media sites to look at their friends images, posts, and/or blogs. All though social media sites can be fun and have so many advantages, they also have their disadvantages.

Why is bullying such a problem with social media?
A majority of bullying is done over the internet through text. Students find it easier to tell another person what they really feel through text rather than face-to-face because they do not have to see the emotions of the person they are hurting. The person being bullied may be crying but the bully does not care because what they can not see does not matter in their eyes. They do not have a conscious because They do not see the emotions coming from the other side, but only the emotions from inside of themselves. Most of the time a bully that is bullying through social media will do nothing in person because they are too scared to show everyone else in the world the way they really act when no one is watching. The worse thing about bullying over social media is that it can result in suicide because the bully never could see the emotions of the person they were harassing. A great movie that depicts this situation is an ABC Family movie called “Cyberbully.” It is about a young girl in high school who has a crush on this boy. Little did she know her best friend used to have a fling with the same boy. Her best friend ended up getting jealous and went on a social media site and made up a fake profile of a cute boy from a different school. In the end the girl tried to commit suicide because the “boy” was terrorizing her, calling her names, and telling the whole school lies about her. In the end the girl found out that the boy she was talking to happened to be her best friend.

Should a college, university, athletic coach, or future employers use a person’s social media to determine whether or not to accept or hire a person?
Students or people applying for jobs think that their social media is private to everyone. Some people would agree that a person’s social media site should not have an effect on whether or not a person gets accepted to a school, whether or not a person gets hired by a future employer, or whether or not a person is kicked off a team. Whether people want to accept the fact or not, a person’s social media site is open to the public. You put whatever you want on it and whoever looks at it can see what you post and upload. Yes, you can make your setting to where only the people that are your friends can see your profile but their are computer hackers that know how to unblock privacy settings. I have friends that are girls that barely know anything about a computer that know how to hack privacy settings. In my opinion, if you decide to post rude and vulgar comments, bullying people, put up pictures of you illegally drinking under the age of 21, smoking pot, or doing any other kind of drugs then that is your fault that your did not get accepted to the school or that you did not get the job you applied for. Also, kids and adults can be kicked off an athletic team for performing illegal acts, acts that are frowned upon, or un-sportsman like behavior. People should think before they perform stupid behavior and not take pictures of themselves performing illegal acts.

Kids underage drinking posted on Facebook