McCarthyism & The Red Scare
Hysteria is defined as a behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess. We have seen hysteria throughout history from uncontrollable laughter to political hysteria. One of the most famous examples of hysteria that has gone through the United States was the Red Scare or McCarthyism. The red scare was the fear that communism was taking over the United States and people in the government who were communists were taking over the government. It was the fear that our enemy at the time, communism, was taking over the United States. McCarthy added to the fear in the country by adding the idea to out who is communists and to make sure they are punished. This led to even more hysteria in the country because the people feared not only communism but public scrutiny.
Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow is a famous CBS reporter that was best known for his reporting in World War II and during the McCarthy era. He has been remembered as being the main downfall of McCarthy. Edward R. Murrow reported on the Ford 50th Anniversary Show about many political topics, including criticism toward McCarthy that was seen by 60 million viewers. Later he created a segment that criticized McCarthy and pointed out his hypocrisy. The reviews he received were far different than what he and CBS expected which was very positive. Once McCarthy got the chance to respond to Murrow he accused Murrow of being a communist. McCarthy’s lack of response to everything Murrow pointed out made the public grow more of a dislike for the senator.
In the movie, we see the anxiety that McCarthy has instilled in the United States public. We see coworkers with Murrow being anxious about having to say they are not communist because it seemed like no one was safe from McCarthy even if you are not communist. Then the movie shows how no one wants to cover the story about McCarthy because they do not want to be profiled next. However, Murrow hears the story about the airman being discharged for his family potentially being communist. Murrow from the beginning shows his worry for democracy in the United States and that there is no fair trial for being accused of being communist and there’s no availability of freedom of speech because you may be profiled. My favorite quote of Murrow’s was in his speech, “We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable, and complacent. We have a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information.” I think this was extremely relevant to the red-scare and the era they were in. The people were too comfortable to see the truth and they were stuck in this hysteria and being too complacent.
McCarthy and Journalism
As shown in the movie, you can see that journalism was far different during the McCarthy era. During the McCarthy era, journalism was almost censored because of the fear of being flagged as a communist sympathizer and losing your job. The journalists did not have any restrictions on reporting on McCarthyism, but the fear of losing their job and the fear of the mob made journalists unable to report on what was going on. In the movie, you could see that no one wanted to report on McCarthy but Murrow wanted to. Murrow is portrayed as strong and being the one to break the barriers for journalists, but even before his segment on McCarthy, you see his foot tapping which shows his internal anxiety. The movie emphasizes the responsibility of the media and how the media helps the public and the people. But it also shows how much these journalists put on the line to show the people what is truly going on.
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