When TV news grew a backbone and took on a demagogue. History repeats—watch and weep.
McCARTHY YEARS turns back the clock to the Fifties, a time when the country lurched into a murky period of blacklists and witch-hunts for alleged Communists, all led by a young senator named Joseph McCarthy. Revered for his bravery and incorruptibility, Murrow made a controversial series of broadcasts that challenged McCarthy's abuses of power, which--as this gripping program investigates--signaled the emergence of television news as a momentous and highly influential force in American life.
Writing
Murrow's actual broadcasts—no writer could top this precision.
Direction
Archival footage arranged like a slow-building horror film.
Production
Cronkite's narration adds layers of journalistic legacy.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This doc reveals how Murrow's team smuggled footage past CBS executives who feared losing sponsors—early evidence that ad revenue would neuter broadcast journalism.
The 'See It Now' broadcast on March 9, 1954 drew 2.8 million viewers; within weeks, McCarthy's approval plummeted 16 points—television's first documented political assassination.
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