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Good Night, and Good Luck
We will not walk in fear of one another

‘Technology of Another Era’
By Candace Perkins Bowen

Overview
It is important for the makers of “Good Night, and Good Luck” to use authentic equipment to properly represent the era. Such items include the microphones, teleprompters (simply cards), telephones, manual typewriters, television sets, etc. How different was the studio in those days?

Suggested time allotment
One week to research and collect materials and plan a class presentation.

Objectives
Students will:

1. Research what equipment was used in television studios during the mid-1950s.
2. Also find out about the challenges Murrow’s “Person to Person” program created in an era before satellite transmission.
3. Interview local television station personnel who have been involved in electronic media production for a number of years. What changes have they seen? Also consider interviewing local college/university professors in broadcast journalism or radio/television/film to discuss the changes in electronic media in the last 50 years.
4. Prepare a report, including visuals, to show how the field has changed.

Resources and materials

• An interesting collection of historical images belongs to Tom Genova, a retired Ford Motor Company senior engineer. He has photos of many old television sets and equipment, plus scans of ads for them. Another interesting plus: For each year, he includes a “What Things Cost” listing. (i.e. 1952: Car $1,850; gasoline $0.27/gallon; minimum wage $0.75/hour; postage stamp $0.03) CLICK HERE
• The Early Television Foundation and Museum in Hilliard, Ohio, has a website with everything from photos of early television ads and sets to television network maps from 1950 and 1957. CLICK HERE
• This covers “Person to Person” and the early talk show format from the Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) CLICK HERE

‘Snapshot of a Life: The Obituary ’
By Candace Perkins Bowen

Overview
Obituaries are an important part of what newspapers offer readers. They summarize of an entire life and highlight accomplishments. Although they are routine – writing obits is the first job many journalists have when they go to work for a newspaper — they also offer an opportunity to go beyond the ordinary and find an interesting angle. The famous often have obituaries written and on file at such newspapers as The New York Times for years before their actual death. Two of those portrayed in “Good Night, and Good Luck” have accessible obituaries that reveal a lot … or a little … about them.

Suggested time allotment
After watching the 90-minute movie, one class period to read the material that follows and discuss the characters whose obituaries are included here. Two to three additional days if students will be writing obituaries.

Objectives
Students will:

1. Watch the movie and read the article below about obituaries.
2. Then read and discuss the obituaries for Don Hollenbeck and Jack O’Brian. Did they give you a glimpse of the men you saw or heard about in the movie? For Hollenbeck, how do the “facts” about his life seem different in the newspaper than they do when his character talks to Murrow? Why do you think that might be?
3. Read sample obituaries of movie stars, political figures and the like who have died in recent years.
   a. Discuss the information included and how the reporter probably got it.
   b. Discuss the way the article is organized (Chronological? Summary news lead and inverted pyramid? Other?)
   c. Note if negative or embarrassing information is included and discuss what they think this is so.
4. Choose a celebrity living now and research his or her life.
5. Write an obituary that could run in a national publication or be aired on national television for this person.

Resources and materials
A useful book:
Johnson, Marilyn. The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006.

Web resources :
• The Lincoln Star (Lincoln, Nebr.) June 23, 1954. “News Commentator Hollenbeck Ends Life” (AP). CLICK HERE
• Deaths. “O’Brian, Jack.” Nov. 7, 2000. A long-time newspaper columnist, and radio talk show host in New York, died November 5, 2000 in Manhattan. (The New York Times obituary) CLICK HERE