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Worksheet and Hand-out
Fred Friendly
Sig Mickelson
Bill Paley
Don Hollenbeck
Shirley Wershba
Joe Wershba
Edward R. Murrows
Palmer Williams
Directions: As you watch the movie, answer each of the questions below.
below. Use additional sheets of paper if necessary. For your
convenience, he questions have been divided up by DVD chapters, certain key terms have been defined and long pieces of dialogue have
been included.
1. 1958, Prologue
1. Where and when does the movie start (location, month, day and year)? Why is everyone gathered together?
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Words to know
ESCAPISM
MASS MEDIA
The tendency to escape from daily reality or routine by
indulging in daydreaming, fantasy, or entertainment.
Newspapers, motion pictures, radio, television, and magazines, all of
which have the technical capacity to deliver information to millions of
people.
2. Are You Now?
SCROLLING WORDS
“Throughout the 1940s and 1950s America was overwhelmed with concerns about the threat of communism.
Senator Joseph McCarthy made a public accusation that more than two hundred “card-carrying” Communists had infiltrated
the United States Government.
Few in the press were willing to stand up against McCarthy for fear they too would be targeted.”
2. The flashback takes us to…(Give the date, location and the city)
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3. Isn’t It McCarthy?
3. What is it that the reporters are supposed to sign? What will happen if they don’t?
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4. What is the major new story that Murrows has? What charges brought Murrow’s investigation?
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4. Talking Cost
OCTOBER 19, 1953.
5. NEWS REEL Concerning his discharge from the army, what important point does Radulovich make?
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6. What does Ed Murrows want to do on his news program? Why doesn’t CBS want him to do this? What are Friendly and Murrows going to have
to do about Alcoa (advertisements)?
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5. Dangerous Waters
7. What is the Air Force saying Radulovich has done?
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8. NEW REEL What does Radulovich’s lawyer say has happened?
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6. Running the Story
9. What is Air Force Regulation 35-62?
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10. What does the color ‘yellow’ symbolize? __________________________________________
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11. What does the color ‘red’ symbolize? ___________________________________________
12. Why is Fred Friendly yellow?
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13. What does the following quote mean: “We believe the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father.”
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Words to know
MAO TSE-TUNG
1893–1976, Chinese Communist leader: chairman of the People's Republic
of China 1949–59; chairman of the Chinese Communist party 1943–76.
7. Poke with A Stick
14. Why does the movie show us the original Kent cigarette commercial? (Think of at least 2 reasons)
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15. Why is Murrows interviewing Liberace? Is Murrows enjoying this interview? How can you tell?
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16. How is this show, Face to Face, different than See It Now, the show where he interviewed Milo Radulovich? (Think of at least 2 examples)
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17. Who is Don Hollenbeck? Why is he upset?
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Words to know
PINKO
1936, derogatory slang form of pink, used of people whose social or
political views "have a tendency toward 'red' (communism) " a metaphor
that had existed since at least 1837.
3
8. Their 1st Shot
18. What have we learned about Murrows from the man who corners Joe Wershba and gives him the manila envelope? Why was this information
given to Joe? Is the information true?
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19. Who is Mr. Paley? Why is he mad?
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9. Terror Right Here
20. What do Murrows and Friendly want to make sure their reporter’s haven’t ever done? How is this a witch-hunt?
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21. What is Murrows’ response? ____________________________________________________
22. What do the reporters at See It Now need to do to prove McCarthy is falsely accusing people?
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23. What is McCarthy doing to people?
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Words to know
HUAC
House Un-American Activities Committee; an investigative committee of the
U.S. House of Representatives. Originally created in 1938 to inquire into
subversive activities in the U.S., it was reestablished in 1945 as the
Committee on Un-American Activities, renamed in 1969 as the Committee
on Internal Security, and abolished in 1975
10. See You At The Office
24. What type of information do the reporters have on McCarthy? What do they need to do with this information? Why can’t they wait to do this?
Why should they wait?
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Words to know
AVA GARDNER
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an
Academy Award-nominated American film and television actress. She is
listed as one of the American Film Institute's greatest stars of all time.
11. No Time to Keep Silent
25. What does Paley mean when he says, “I’m with you today Ed. And, I’m with you tomorrow.”
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26. What are McCarthy’s two scare techniques?
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27. Explain the following quote: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves…”—Cassius, Julius Caesar I.ii.140-141
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28. Summarize the following:
No one familiar with the history of his country, can deny that congressional committees are useful. It is necessary to investigate
before legislating. But the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one, and the Junior Senator from Wisconsin has
stepped over it repeatedly. His primary achievement has been confusing the public mind as between the internal and the external
threats of communism. We must not confuse dissent from disloyalty. We must remember always, that accusation is not proof, and
that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another; we will not be driven by
fear into an age of unreason. If we dig deep into our history and our doctrine, we will remember we are not descended from
fearful men. Not from men who dared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular.
This is no time for men who oppose Sen. McCarthy's methods to keep silent or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage
and our history but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the republic to abdicate his
responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the
defenders of freedom wherever it still exists in the world. But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The
actions of the Junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable
comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his, he didn't create this situation of fear, he merely exploited it, and
rather successfully. Cassius was right, the fault dear Brutus is not in our stars, but in ourselves. Good night, and good luck.
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END OF PART I
5
12. Running the Story
29. What is the date at the beginning of this part? ______________________________________________
30. What does the O’Brien review say about the McCarthy interview?
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Words to know
MACHIAVELLIAN
being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed
in Machiavelli's The Prince, in which political expediency is placed above
morality and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and
carry out the policies of a ruler is described.
13. Tell What You Know
31. What happens to Milo Radulovich after Murrows broadcast?
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14. Don’t Read the Papers
32. What is Murrows’ advice to Don Hollenbeck? Why?
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33.
How is the questioning of Annie Lee Moss reflective of Tituba in “The Crucible”?
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Annie Lee Moss
34. What happens during the questioning? Where is McCarthy?
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35. What has McCarthy decided to do on April 6th? _______________________________________________________
15. The Evil of It
36. Explain the following quote: “You cannot strike that from the press…nor from the public mind once it’s planted there. That’s, that is the evil
of it!”
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16. McCarthy Fires Back
APRIL 6, 1954
37. What does McCarthy do as defense against what Murrows has said?
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Words
to know
LATTIMORES
FOSTERS
“THE DAILY
WORKER”
OWEN LATTIMORE (July 29, 1900 – May 31, 1989)
was a U.S. author and educator, the most influential
American scholar of Central Asia in the 20th
Century. He was accused by U.S. Senator Joseph
McCarthy of being "a top Russian spy." Some people
credit Lattimore with coining the term McCarthyism,
but Herbert Block was first to use the term, in a
cartoon in the Washington Post.
WILLIAM Z. FOSTER (February 25, 1881 - September 1,
1961), born in Taunton, Massachusetts, was the long-time
General Secretary of the Communist Party USA and trade
union leader. He passed through the Socialist Party of
America and the Industrial Workers of the World, as well as
leading the drive to organize the packinghouse industry
during World War I and leading the steel strike of 1919
before joining the Communist Party in 1921.
The Daily Worker was a newspaper published in
New York City by the Communist Party USA, a
Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began
in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing
views of the party, attempts were made to make
it a paper that reflected the spectrum of left-wing
opinion. At its peak, the newspaper achieved a
circulation of 35,000.
17. 1958, Prologue
38. Why did Alcoa pull their ad?
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39. How does Murrows fight back?
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18. How High the Tragedy
40. What does Palmer Williams tell the rest of the reporters?
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41. What happened to Don Hollenbeck?
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19. For the Greater Good
42. What is Joe Wershba worried about?
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43. What happens to Shirley and Joe?
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20. Downfalls
44. What do Paley and Murrows argue about? What happens to Murrows?
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45. What happens to Fred Friendly?
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21. This Instrument
46. What happens to McCarthy?
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47. How did Murrows win? How did he lose?
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48. Summarize the following quote:
To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There
is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if
they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon
see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the
extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. Good night, and good luck.
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