Each morning, George Clooney would gather his cast members together and give them copies of the newspapers from that day in 1953. He'd then give them an hour and a half, working on old manual typewriters, to copy out the stories from the paper. He would then hold an improvised news conference with hidden cameras, in which the cast members would then pitch their stories to the editor, just like a real newsroom.
Periodically throughout the film, it is punctuated by a jazz song performed by Dianne Reeves, as if to provide breaks between TV episodes (the first song even leads to a vintage commercial). Not counting the music, those sections run about 23-24 minutes each (then about 12.5 to the end and final song); with the music, the first three average 25 minutes. In the 1950s a half hour of TV without commercials still contained over 26 minutes of programming.
Initially, the famous concluding catchphrase, "Good Night and Good Luck," that became the title of the film, was a habit Edward R. Murrow kept from his London years as a war reporter for the radio. Then British people under constant night German bombing systematically ended their conversations with the very same words, uncertain they would meet again.
George Clooney was paid one dollar each for writing, directing, and starring in the film. This helped keep the film's costs low, coming in at a budget of just $7.5 million.
George Clooney was extremely nervous about showing the film to his father, Nick, a newsman himself. Nick Clooney got up after watching it, patted his son on the shoulder and said, "You got it right".
Robert F. Kennedy: During the archive footage of John L. McClellan's questioning Joseph McCarthy, a very young RFK (then a minority counsel to the committee) can be seen when the camera pans to the right.