1. By Lisa Erickson and Rachel Gonzalez

2.  American Communism grew out of ideas born in the Soviet Union  Cold War brought renewed fears of Communist take over in America  The Un-American Activities Committee  Alien Restriction Act  Joseph McCarthy was biggest challenger of and proponent for ending the Communist movement in America

3.  “To investigate the possibility of communist subversion”  Go after known Communists, supporters of Communists, or any prior Communist connections  Blacklisting  McCarthy hearings  McCarthy’s illegitimate tactics

4.  Edward R. Murrow was born April 8, 1908 in Guilford County, North Carolina.  Murrow started his career with CBS in 1935 in New York  By 1938 he reported full time in London and became famous for his “roof top” reports of the bombings in London.  After WWII, Murrow parlayed his radio show Hear it Now into the first news magazine show See it Now.

5.  See it Now, in true Murrow fashion dealt with the controversial issues of the time head on.  Murrow presented the case of Milo Radulovich, who had been discharged from the air force because his family was believed to be Communist sympathizers.  Soon after this show Murrow went after McCarthy directly in a show that aired on March 9, 1954.  Murrow used quotes from McCarthy himself to show that McCarthy’s fear mongering was contradictory and hypocritical.

6.  McCarthy’s appearance on See it Now only further decreased his already waning population.  Murrow’s broadcast marked a turning point in the McCarthy era in a time that journalists were being threatened with blacklists and jail.  CBS did not even fully support Murrow and Murrow and his production team financed many of the shows advertisements.