Dark Days in the Newsroom author Edward Alwood explores Cold War tension by examining how journalists were targeted during the anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s , as some cooperated by revealing names while others resisted in an attempt to defend press freedom. The author shows how some journalists heroically defended press freedom while others secretly enlisted in the government's anti-communist campaign. McCarthyism in journalism became the practice of publicly making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without providing evidence or protecting civil liberties. It relied on devious investigative methods designed to suppress opposition. The power of McCarthyism underlies its ability to threaten principled people and turn them into selfish cowards. This is a shocking violation of First Amendment protections and a disturbing expression of the government's ability to intimidate the press. The era of McCarthyism significantly changed journalism; the impact of the Eastland hearings and subsequent court cases on press freedom could be traced to the Valerie Plame case of the summer of 2005. Dark Days in the Newsroom focuses on the 1955-56 Eastland investigation of the New York Times. “Mississippi Democrat James Eastland and his colleagues put the newspaper industry on the defensive over the right of the accused to face their accusers and question witnesses and the power of Congress to hold witnesses in contempt or charge them with perjury if they refuse to do it. answer questions” (Alwood, 3). Alwood brings new information about the McCarthy conspiracy against the press and FBI complicity into the public domain through an accurate... paper medium... perfectly in our class material. We talked about the Red Scarce and the McCarthy era and how people were scared of the socialist threat during the 1940s and 1950s. Arguing that the experiences of the McCarthy years profoundly influenced the practice of journalism, he shows how many of the issues faced by journalists in the 1950s foreshadow today's conflicts over journalists' right to protect their sources. The treatment of journalists was unfair, that's why they believed that going to prison was better than stating false facts in court because they were innocent. “If you don't stand up for what you believe in, don't risk a decision because you think you might lose, I think that's a short-sighted approach” (Alwood, 148) This is a fascinating and detailed look at one aspect of the McCarthy era that continues to influence the contemporary journalism.