"Good Night and Good Luck"

 The movie "Good Night and Good Luck" delves into the McCarty era where the country experienced the second red scare, when many people feared degradation and citizenship revocation due to accusations of communist "security risks." Journalism and First Amendment violations were extremely common, and this led to journalists worrying about reporting the violations due to fear of being outlawed and deported. 

    This movie specifically outlines when the CBS Television network airs news episodes that outline the violations, despite the fear of jailtime or deportation. It also uses real clips which helps the movie feel accurately represented, one story that became particularly infamous is how they outlined an Air Force Lieutenant was discharged and jailed for suspicion of communism despite the fact that the captain and the public never saw the envelope, nor was there a court case, they were thrown directly into prison.

    They were threatened by the lead supervisor and decided to do an episode specifically on McCarthy, no matter the risk, they analyze footage and put as much work into tiptoeing the line of jail as possible, this is a great way of visualizing and explaining how the journalism process worked in the second red scare, Many news outlets were struggling to report on the events without getting ridiculed by McCarthy, They had to resort to not reporting them at all, Which is a very big and good example of Prior Restraint, Which is a major violation of the first amendment.

    The airing was mostly successful, With the higher up of CBS saying they agree and are alongside the message, essentially starting to make the public get a sense of union that could help defeat the red scare and bring back America to its normal self again. This led to the newsroom receiving a letter which reindicted the Air Force Lieutenant and brought a sense of curiosity in the public. Essentially after the newsroom started to report on the red scare, it was like a match in a fuel tank and created a chain reaction.

McCarthyism and the Red Scare | Miller Center    

When and how did McCarthyism end? | Britannica

McCarthyism | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica

EOTO 2 Summary

     After having watched many presentations on types of journalism, I have realized that journalism has evolved to accommodate a lot more than it originally did, we now have sports journalism, celebrity journalism, gotcha journalism, and so much more. Society is able to receive news about any topic they wish thanks to these methods, but they can also lead to bias and heavy political siding.

    One of the most influential and important types of journalism we see today is gotcha journalism, this can spread misinformation or false news like wildfire or create an outright bad image, something as simple as refusing to answer a question due to lack of a proper informed response can make people think they aren't answering due to fear of exposure or disdain.

    Another type of journalism I found pretty interesting was tabloids, A lot of people usually see these in the store and just disregard them as false information, but to some less informed people who don't know much better, they see it as true and delve into research, by looking up a tabloids title, it usually will show the same biased or outright false results. Just because someone believes a tabloid, that doesn't mean it's too concerning, what can make it concerning is if they can vote, if enough people believe the lie, it could influence an election or a bill, even though it's a complete lie, this could be a very big case of defamation and it has definitely happened before.

    In summary, Journalism has many different methods and types, some are very good and have helped journalism become as important as it is now, some have become very bad though and harm society's view on journalism. In order to properly appreciate and understand why journalism can be a very good and powerful tool for even a normal citizen, People must delve into these types of journalism and establish a clear view of how each one works, this can help not just elections and defamation cases but also help with keeping people confident and proud of their right to freedom of speech and right to have an opinion, Which could benefit journalism and society as a whole.

Tabloids: News, Pictures, Analysis & Opinion | The Week - Explains tabloid cases

National Enquirer | Hottest Celebrity Gossip & Entertainment News - Example of Tabloid

Gotcha journalism - Wikipedia

EOTO: "Gotcha" Journalism

     Journalism has changed in such a way over time that it has as many benefits as it does negatives, it can feed a positive narrative to the public or it can change the way people view the narrative in a negative way, "gotcha" Journalism is a negative to most, but can be positive to some, it can push a bias if done correctly, and can cause negative perspective. There are many caveats to gotcha journalism, and it is still used today to create headlines that harm reputation while somewhat avoiding lying as well.

    "Ambush" journalism consists of interviewing someone in a place where they least expect to be interviewed, which causes confusion and may make them unable to answer or even worse, spit out a wrong answer, which harms liability and truth. The best way to illustrate this is with a celebrity news outlet like TMZ, they use ambush journalism all the time, they almost never have a celebrity in an actual newsroom or interview room, it's always a quick 1 question and then they run away.

    Hidden camera journalism is a modern method of whistleblowing, it involves the use of hidden cameras to expose things that are meant to be secret or kept away from public eye, it can deface an entire campaign if it is severe enough. Commonly most "hidden camera" examples are from BWC on police officers, because the footage from them is available to the public, this means anyone can view footage and use it in whatever they wish, news stories, interviews, or even campaigns if it is not defamation in nature. Such as the Pfizer whistleblower who leaked hidden camera 
footage about talks of "mutating covid"

    Classified and leaked documents and information from whistleblowers is commonly not deemed an ethical way of getting information. The information is both tried and true, but it is also not meant to be public. If an interviewer asks a question about a classified document or operation, The interviewee usually is not allowed to answer, which makes them look bad, and also increases suspicion or it can cause the situation to gain traction, leading major news outlets to follow the same path, A good example of this would be the situation regarding James O'Keefe, There is a whistleblower from Pfizer who has leaked documents and evidence regarding all things covid, This can be used as a form of Gotcha journalism in an interview, Due to no ability to answer.

    Gotcha journalism has been in used for several decades now, And the effect it has is noticeable even today, Paparazzi, Sensitive topics, all these methods are used to hurt an image of the interviewee, Gotcha journalism can even be linked to why some politicians avoid post-speech interviews entirely, only doing interviews in scheduled and pre-determined periods.

Gotcha journalism - Wikipedia

O'Keefe Says He Is Not Giving Up, Reveals Pfizer Whistleblower at CPAC - 'I Was Worried That I Would End Up in a Body Bag' (ijr.com)

phrase usage - Is there an idiomatic expression to refer to an “ambush” journalist? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Hidden Cameras at the Crossroads of Journalism, Ethics and the Law · Undercover Reporting (nyu.edu)

  

EOTO Presentations Summary

     After having watched multiple presentations, I have learned a lot about journalism as well as suppression even before social media existed, as far back as before slavery was abolished, Charles Dana for example, Was a well-established journalist and editor for multiple news outlets as well as an author for multiple books, He faced criticism at The New York Tribune for having Abolitionist views, Which Horace Greely did not agree with, This later led to him joining a separate news outlet.

    Similar things occurred to other journalists, such as Nelly Bly. She was kicked out of Mexico for reporting on the poor state of housing and the economy as well as the issue with food and general living conditions, This can show suppression doesn't just occur in US as well, Because some countries don't even have free speech, They are suppressed and forces to have biased and limited views which always make the bad things nonexistent, This is a very dystopian way of suppression but still oddly occurs in a similar way in the US.

    Another issue with news that is thankfully not an issue nowadays is time, Back before social media news was mostly spread through billboards and newspapers, Which took days to print, This doesn't even count the article being written, Which also takes due time and research, and similar to the time factor, The internet didn't exist, There was one source from that area of effect, And that was what everyone assumed, Lying and deceiving and showing up on the headline of news was very common, with social media and many outlets on the internet as well as TV, News is spread rapidly which is both positive and negative.

    In conclusion, Journalism has faced issues during its past, but it ha
s also evolved in a positive way as well, we are able to receive news mere minutes after it is spoken about, and whenever the president does his speeches to America, we are able to watch it live, unfiltered, and unbiased.

Charles A. Dana | American journalist | Britannica

Nellie Bly | American journalist | Britannica