Journalist Edward Murrow was a well decorated journalist whose resume was briefly discussed at the beginning of the movie. He had extensive experience as a war journalist and it is certain that he personally saw injustices during that period. As the movie progressed his attitude and demeanor as he interviewed people and presented facts was smooth and calm. Murrow was clearly interested in presenting the facts of both sides of the Red Scare debate. In his send-off message about the Moss trial he clearly stated that he was not privy to extra information and he was not laying claims to an opinion and he only wished to show that this American citizen was being unfairly persecuted by her government. This level-headed and unbiased approach is what clearly defined Murrow as an excellent journalist because he allowed his audience to make their own opinion.
What Murrow wanted to accomplish was to show the American people that the ‘guilty by association’ mindset that McCarthy was perpetuating was not ethical and it did not uphold the civil rights given to every American citizen. To take-on Senator McCarthy in the way that Murrow did was risky and he knew that there might be terrible fall-out. He knew that his team would face close scrutiny and he gave them the option to back-out. This showed ethical integrity because while Murrow was prepared to be attacked it would not be fair to allow those on his team to be attacked based upon association.

‘Good night and good luck’, the sign-off that Murrow began to use because he felt persecuted by his government. He wished American people ‘good luck’ because he was subtly saying that no-one was safe from the ‘guilty by association’ mindset. It was important that Murrow, as a figure that American’s could trust for fair journalism, stand up to the behavior of Senator McCarthy. What was most striking about this movie was the similarity between McCarthy’s actions and those of the Chinese government on its people. In conclusion, there needs to be more journalists like Edward Murrow who can eloquently articulate the facts. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of journalists like Murrow because directly after his actions he was edited severely and lost his sponsors, so it goes in the world of entertainment.