Monday, July 16
Despite what it may look like on the television screen, journalism is not an easy profession. This was never more true than in the 1950s, when the hunt for communists is all walks of life put additional pressure on those trying to report the news. Led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, over-zealous Commie hunters pried inside newsrooms thought to be untouchable under the First Amendment. The stories of how many journalists mounted a heroic defense of freedom of the press while others secretly enlisted in the government's anti-communist crusade can be found in a new book from journalism Professor Edward Alwood academia. It’s entitled “Dark Days in the Newsroom: McCarthyism Aimed at the Press” (in softcover from Temple University Press).