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| "Address to RTDNA Convention." Edward R. Murrow.Location: http://www.rtnda.org/pages/media_items/edward-r.-murrow1106.php?id=1106Pre-reading Question
1) How do you feel about news stories that make you think about unpleasant or disturbing information about the world around us, both in your own country and outside it? Do you want to know more, or do you try to avoid news that upsets or depresses you? Why or why not? Do citizens of democracies have any ethical responsibility to be well-informed?Journal Topics
1) This speech was written roughly fifty years ago, and some current media critics consider it amazingly accurate about the ills of television and radio today. If you had to write a prediction about communications technology fifty years from now, what would you discuss?
2) What do you think about the vocabulary and tone of this speech? Would someone giving a speech today use the same formal level of speech?Questions for Critical Thought
1) Murrow argues that "We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late." How true is this? What sort of "unpleasant or disturbing information" was Murrow asserting that Americans would prefer to avoid? Can you think of any examples in recent history where TV, in the main, helped to "distract, delude, amuse and insulate us" from important but disturbing information in such a way that we didn't see a true picture until "too late"?
2) Murrow claimed that in the news, there is a strong imbalance and that, instead of true journalism, news is starting to focus on a "constant striving to reach the largest possible audience for everything; by the absence of a sustained study of the state of the nation." If the news outlets are more worried about television ratings than about world events, what are the implications for our nation? How about for the rest of the word, given the influence of the United States on other countries?Suggestions for Personal Research
1) Edward R. Murrow is considered by some media historians to be greatest journalist of the last 100 years. Research his history from World War II to his involvement with the McCarthy Hearings to the end of his career as a journalist. How does he compare to any of the major names in journalism today?
2) Research other major figures in journalism in the last 100 years. How many have achieved historical recognition for their hard work, integrity, even courage? What impact did they have? Has it been lasting?Multicultural Issues
1) Murrow claims that Americans are "wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent." If you are from a foreign country, what are your thoughts on this? It is obviously a sweeping generalization, but how much truth do you see? If you do see any truth, why do you think Americans (at least some) have this reputation?
2) Murrow is considered to be one of the greatest American journalists of the last century. Do some research about journalists in your own country. Is there a journalist there who is as famous and well-respected? Was there in the past?
3) In other countries, some journalists pay the ultimate price for trying to reveal uncomfortable truths to their people. Russia, for example, is a particularly hostile place for journalists. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least forty-three journalists were killed in Russia between 1993 and 2006. The CPJ ranked Russia the third deadliest country for journalists, following Iraq and Algeria. The murderers are rarely found or brought to justice. Investigate the different legal rights journalists have in different countries and cultures, as well as how likely they are to be targeted by legal or illegal violence.Vocabulary Terms
discourse heretical journeymen kinescopes decadence escapism complacentTerms for ClarificationNikita Khrushchev. The leader of the Communist Party in Soviet Russia after the death of Joseph Stalin. He was in charge of the USSR for many of the most intense moments of the Cold War, including the Cuban Missile Crisis and the building of the Berlin Wall. |