Shock and Awe

 

Prime Video

Shock and Awe is an American Drama that was released in 2017.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines shock as "a sudden or violent mental or emotional disturbance" and awe as "an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime."

The title of the movie Shock and Awe is referring to the military strategy for which the movie is named. Shock and awe is a strategy in which a military uses extreme force in order to ruin an enemy's battlefield and hopefully defeat them. It is more specifically referring to the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the U.S. which was called "Shock and Awe" because of the force used.

CNN

President Bush was in office from 2001-2009.

Shock and Awe is based on the true story of the U.S. war with Iraq following the devastating events of 9/11. The movie focuses on the president of the time, George W. Bush, and his administration's decisions as well as the journalists set to investigate the president.

George W. Bush declared war because he believe Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that could devastate the U.S. if used. The journalists were set to investigate this claim.

The movie features a news service called Knight Rider, which owned 31 newspapers in Washington, D.C. The bureau head for the news service is John Walcott, played by Rob Reiner. Walcott sends Warren Strobel (James Marsden) and Jonathan Landay (Woody Harrelson) to be the main investigative journalists on the Bush Administration.

Left Voice

This is a photo of "Shock and Awe" in Iraq. 

Throughout the movie, the major news networks continue to side with the Bush Administration and defend the war against Iraq. However, the Knight Rider journalists believe that what President Bush is saying is false, and they are determined to give America the truth.

At the end of the movie, Walcott, Strobel and Landay prove that they are right and that the Bush administration has no valid justification for the war in Iraq. 

Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay received the Raymond Clapper Memorial award from the Senate Press Gallery for their impressive journalistic work.

My Thoughts 

I really love that this movie is based on a true story and tells about the actual events and decisions that took place in the U.S. government in the 2000s. I was born in 2003, so it was also interesting to learn about a piece of history that I was alive for but not old enough to remember.

It was also really amazing to learn about the incredible journalistic work of the three men of Knight Rider. Even when every major news network was defending the Bush administration, these journalists stuck to their gut and were determined to give the public the truth about the was in Iraq. I can only hope to be a hardworking and honest journalist like these men one day.

(Fun Fact: Johnathan Landay now works for Reuters, which I did one of my EOTO presentations on!)

Barbara Walters

Barbara Walters is considered one of the most famous and highly regarded journalists of the 20th and 21st centuries. She is an icon who paved the way for the future of females in journalism.

New York Times

This is the cover image for her book Rulebreaker.

Barbara Walters was born on September 25, 1929 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her father, Lou Walters, was a nightclub owner who expanded his business from Boston to Miami, Florida in 1929. 

She attended private schools in New York City and graduated from Miami Beach High School in 1947. 

Because of being in Miami, she was exposed to being around celebrities from a young age, which some believe is why she appeared so nonchalant when interviewing famous people.

Walters went on to attend Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. She received a B.A. in English and graduated in 1953. 

After working for an advertising agency for a short time, she landed her first job in news as the assistant to the publicity director of the NBC affiliate WRCA-TV in NYC. Next she was hired as a writer and producer for CBS's Morning Show. It is clear that Walter's career was already setting her on a fast track towards success.

It was her next career move that changed her life. In 1964 she was hired to work for the Today show. Her role was small and mainly involved reading commercials and making small talk, but she took that role and ran with it until she grew her reputation and responsibilities. 

Today

Walters on the set of the Today show.

She asked to be put on an assignment to travel with the First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, which propelled her career forward. Just 10 years later in 1974, she was named co-host of the Today show alongside Hugh Downs. She was the first woman to hold such a position for an American news network. In 1975 she won her first Emmy.

In 1972 she was a part of the press corps which traveled with President Richard Nixon on an important trip to China. After 11 years making her mark at the Today show, Walters left to join ABC where she became the first woman co-anchor of a network evening news program. 

In 1976, Walters began her famous series entitled Barbara Walters Specials. This is when Walters made her mark as a world renowned interviewer, interviewing everyone from Jimmy Carter to George Clooney. In addition to launching this show, Walters left ABC nightly news and joined 20/20 in 1979, where she stayed until 2004. In 1997 Walters also began cohosting The View. 

Throughout her career, Walters earned many awards and accolades, including induction into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. 

Yahoo Money

Walters and President Richard Nixon on ABC's 20/20.

2014 was the end of an era. Walters retired from The View and all broadcasting she has been working on. She did however make some guest appearances and recorded a few interviews after her retirement.

On December 30, 2022, Barbara Walters died at the age of 93.

Barbara Walters set the standard for how journalists should conduct interviews while teaching the world about some of its most well-known figures with her own in depth interviews. She is loved and admired by many because of her incredible work.

As a young college students myself about to enter the work force in a year, I have so much admiration for Walters. She was a pioneer for women in journalism, and who knows what the future of women in journalism would have been like without her. 

She turned journalism from a field dominated by males into one that I would personally say seems to be dominated by women. The Today show and other network broadcasts have more female anchors than ever before.

Thank you Barbara Walters for paving the way for female journalists like me.

EOTO #2 Reaction

Gossip, Fashion and Film....

These are just three of my favorite journalism topics I was able to learn the history of during our EOTO #2 presentations. As someone who loves entertainment journalism, my topic for my opinion writing blog, these were the three types of journalism that really stood out to me during our presentations.

First I was able to learn about gossip columns. Gossip columns have origins in the 19th century, which is something I found very fascinating. When I think of gossip columns I often think of gossip magazines and blogs of the 21st century, but this presentation helped me learn that modern gossip columns were not the first of their kind. 

Wikipedia

The New York Herald featured early gossip columns

An early form of gossip column was started by James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald. He originally sought out to write stories about American lives in order to show the British that Americans had established a civilized society. However, these stories ending up sounding like what we know today as gossip.

In the 1930s and 1940s was when "real" gossip columns,  like the ones we know today, started. The first official  American gossip column was called On-Broadway by the New York Daily Mirror.

Next I learned about the history of fashion journalism. The first known fashion magazine was started in 18th century France. It was called Cabinet de modes et Magasin des modes Nouvelles, which meant new fashions. Something interesting about this magazine was that they included information about different types of bedding. Another thing about this magazine was that it was accessible for the middle class.

Wikipedia

The Cabinet Des Modes featured different fashion items such as hats.

In 1867, fashion journalism became popular in the U.S. with Harper's Bazaar. In 1892 Vogue magazine was created by Arthur Baldwin Turnure. Harper's Bazaar and Vogue are still fashion magazines today.

Finally, I learned about film journalism. In the 1930s, film became a mainstream form of entertainment. In the 1980s, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert started a popular film criticism show called At the Movies. Roger Ebert was considered the biggest name in film criticism until his death in 2013.

IMBd

At the Movies was the first critic show of its time.

These are just some of the things I learned about a few of the topics that were presented for EOTO #2. I learned a lot from my classmates and really enjoyed hearing about different topics in journalism history.