The media is something watched excessively and under a microscope in this day and age. In our textbook, ‘Understanding Media’ chapter 14 raises the question of this being too invasive with the rise of tabloids and talk shows like TMZ. Pg. 572 states, “The U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantees Americans freedom of the press, which many would agree is important regardless in upholding democratic principles.” This allows for the public access and spread of information. “Freedom from government censorship allows the news media to keep citizens informed about the state of their society.” This freedom can become an issue when abused and can become dangerous. The case of Princess Diana being surrounded by Paparazzi before getting into the infamous car crash that killed her is a prime example of media crossing ethical boundaries to obtain information.

Director Aaron Sorkin’s American television series, ‘The Newsroom’ was shot to emulate the expectations, unrealistic pressures and relationships in a newsroom environment. While this was not my first time viewing this series, I was reminded of how well done the plot and the complexity of the characters were made.

In an interview with ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin describes his inspiration for the series as bluntly fun and creative. “This is meant to be an idealistic, romantic, swashbuckling, sometimes comedic but very optimistic, upward-looking look at a group of people who are often looked at cynically.” Perhaps the most infamous scene is when Jeff Daniels played by Will McAvoy is asked why America is the greatest country in the world by a sorority girl expecting a cliché answer. As all eyes are on him he unexpectedly says “It’s not”, citing that we’re a free country but so are 180 others including Canada, Japan, The U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Austria. He provides countless reasons why we’re nothing special, being “7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178 in infant mortality rate, 3rd in median household income number 4 in labor force and number 4 in exports…” Breaking it down, we see a more human opinionated side to him that journalists so often hide in an effort for their work to appeal to a greater public. He finishes off his point by saying “We lead the world in only 3 categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries behind.” Aside from any journalistic endeavor, this shines light on so many important issues that are not talked about or swept under the rug. Talking about any number of these things in detail puts the glorified ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ valued country at risk for criticism, and takes away our dated motto of being ‘the greatest country in the world.’

Sorkin realizes the importance of transparency in television. “Ordinarily in popular culture our leaders are portrayed either as Machiavellian or dumb; I wanted to do something different and show a highly competent group of people. That’s the same juice that’s behind The Newsroom” (The Hollywood Reporter). In The Newsroom definitely projects a story of passionate driven journalists who believe in the power of the press. As a journalist myself, I appreciate how well-crafted the messages throughout the episodes are in favor of the work that goes on behind media outlets and how people’s characters feed into the work they produce- even if this is not explicitly shown. This is probably my favorite journalistic film behind ‘Spotlight’ which came out a little later in 2015.

Sources:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/newsroom-aaron-sorkin-jeff-daniels-hbo-340523

Sorkin, Aaron, creator. The Newsroom. Performance by Jeff Daniels, HBO, 2012-2014.

My questions for the class are:

Do you believe that freedom of speech should have limitations in the context of gossip magazines and talk shows like TMZ?

Did you find any particular episode of The Newsroom inspiring or have a scene that stuck out to you?