Alan Cohn: ‘Good Night and Good Luck’ — a lesson for today’s journalism

It was the first time a Broadway play was aired live nationally, and George Clooney and the cast of “Good Night and Good Luck” were terrific.

And it was needed.

What Edward R. Murrow and his team did in taking on Sen. Joseph McCarthy is tragically lacking in today’s journalism, broadcast, and print.

I can say that with authority because I’ve worked in journalism since I was 17. I began my career at CBS News learning from “Murrow’s Boys,” including greats like Richard C. Hottelet and Douglas Edwards. I worked there for five years. I’ve reported for NBC News and ABC News and written for The Boston Globe. I’ve also worked for FOX, ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates across the country.

CBS was my family business. My dad, David Cohn, worked there for over 30 years. He literally helped invent the technology that allowed the great journalists at CBS and its affiliates to broadcast the news. My dad was the chairman of the Edward R. Murrow journalism awards run by B’nai B’rith.

To be blunt, that’s why I’m not inviting debate here, because most of you frankly don’t know what you’re talking about. You perceive bias if the news isn’t flattering to your point of view or favorite politician, Republican or Democrat.

Yes, we have networks explicitly created to deliver biased points of view like FOX, MSNBC, or the far-out, bizarre, cable channels that successfully delude viewers into believing just because the anchor wears a tie or is blond, it must mean they’re credible.

Those poor excuses aside, the reality is that news is neither good nor bad. It’s news.

Too many people are incapable of acknowledging when they’re candidate or their President screw up. And that’s the problem.

We know Trump has successfully deluded millions into believing the sky isn’t blue.

You can post all the AI-generated photos all you want of the son shining down on him as he prays, but that doesn’t make it true.

If you’re blood level is a little high right now, that’s fine. Ask Biden if the media have been fair to him. Ask Obama and the Clintons, and the Bushes.

I ran for Congress as a Democrat. My first-ever story as an investigative reporter targeted a corrupt Democratic prosecutor. I’ve gone after Democrats and Republicans. Anyone who was betraying the public trust.

For all the brave and dedicated journalists who risk their lives and livelihoods every day, there are too many news executives working around the clock to ensure their newscasts and newspapers don’t offend.

They’re mindful of declining viewership and circulation. They cower to despots threatening to use the instruments of state to retaliate.

Today, CBS is actually considering paying Donald Trump 25 million dollars because he didn’t like that 60 Minutes interviewed Kamala Harris before the election. He was offered the same opportunity. ABC has already paid Trump 16 million dollars because George Stephanopoulos asked a tough question.

What would Murrow, Fred Friendly, and William S. Paley say?

Local news has become better at showing live pictures of the train wreck and worse at letting viewers know why the train went off the tracks. Their newscasts are cookie-cutter. All the same. Designed in detail not to offend.

As we were reminded in Clooney’s incredible production of “Good Night and Good Luck,” these pressures aren’t new. They were there then as they are now. The difference then was that good men and good women stood up. They wouldn’t be silenced. They were afraid but determined to see the truth come out.

At a moment in time when we need more investigative journalism, we have less. At a moment when we have more options for watching or reading the news, we have less news worth watching and reading.

Quoting Clooney, who was quoting Murrow, who was quoting Shakespeare, who was summoning Julius Cesar, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. It’s in ourselves.”

In interviews, Clooney reminds us that we’ve had other moments in history that’ve shaken, challenged our senses, and threatened our future, and we’ve always found our way.

Taking a few hours to watch how Murrow and his team shined the light on a threat to our liberty is a good start.

Good night and good luck.

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Alan Cohn is a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning journalist and was the 2020 Democratic Nominee for Florida’s 15th Congressional District.