Ball State will present a special advanced showing of the new film "Good Night, and Good Luck.," a movie about legendary journalist Edward R. Morrow, Oct. 18 as the campus observes Freedom of Speech Week. "Good Night, and Good Luck.," which begins at 8 p.m. in Pruis Hall, takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950s America. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow, played by David Strathairn, and U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. 

With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow and his dedicated staff defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist "witch-hunts."  Murrow's producer, Fred Friendly, is played by George Clooney, who also directs the movie.  Another CBS producer, Joe Wershba, is played by Robert Downey Jr.

More information about the film can be found at http://wip.warnerbros.com/goodnightgoodluck.

Seating for the movie is limited to 300 people. Tickets are free and will be distributed to Ball State ID cardholders at the Pruis Hall box office beginning at 8 a.m. Oct. 17. There is a limit of one ticket per ID cardholder. 

The black and white movie released by Warner Independent Pictures, which evokes Murrow's trademark sign off, focuses on the CBS newsman who in the 1940s and '50s established a high standard of journalistic integrity. Reviews say the movie is a passionate, thoughtful essay on power, truth-telling and responsibility.

Sponsored by the College of Communication, Information, and Media, Freedom of Speech Week is Oct. 17-23.

Other events include:

• A soapbox at the Scramble Light, located on the southwest corner of McKinley and Riverside avenues, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 17 and 21. Students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to step up and exercise their right to free speech.

• Public readings of materials related to free speech begin at 11:45 a.m. Oct. 19 on the Bracken Library Plaza, the patio area between the library and University Theatre.

• "Exploring Free Expression Through Music," a panel discussion featuring former USA Today editor Gene Policinski, a Ball State graduate and executive director of the First Amendment Center, is at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Art and Journalism Building, room 225.

• Bracken Library will show Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech on a video monitor on the first floor, and a table in the lobby will display banned books throughout the week.
  

The National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation and The Media Institute are encouraging local radio and television stations and communities across the country to commemorate National Freedom of Speech Week. More information may be found at www.nabef.org/freespeech.

(Note to editors: For more information, contact Dom Caristi, telecommunications professor, at dgcaristi@bsu.edu or (765) 285-1493.)