In an enjoyable change from the standard lecture curriculum, the second last class of this semester took the form of a film viewing in the Schonell Theatre. Journalism students were treated to a screening of Page One, a documentary that details a working year of the New York Times newspaper. I really enjoyed the film and have a new found admiration for the outspoken, gruff and unapologetic journalist David Carr. The film described the collapse of several other significant and prestigious newspapers who had buckled due to the loss of advertisers and the competition from online corporations. The film addressed concerns that the New York Times was in a similarly precarious position and although the subjects acknowledged the need for cutbacks and internal changes, they say that the paper is still going strong and will remain one of the fundamental media institutions. New media platforms such as twitter, blogging, youtube and the iPad were also a topic of conversation, as new journalists and old journalists debated the pros and cons and addressed the critical nature that such platforms have within journalism today. to the game attested to the critical role that such portals play.
Ethicality and journalistic integrity was a subject of heavy debate within the film as well, especially between supporters of online newspapers as opposed to the journalists working within print media. The scandals of Jayson Blair and Judith Miller were used against advocates of the New York Times who believed that such stories demonstrated the failing nature of the paper and that new stories were covered first and foremost by online journalists. The New York Times adamantly contested such arguments by pointing out that most news stories covered online and other media magazines have their origins in the Times and that the stories are merely being recycled.
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| The Abrasive Voice that is David Carr |
The collaboration of the New York Times with Julian Assange was also central to the documentary, which is an issue that is still getting a lot of media attention within the present. Assange only had raw information and he was aware that it was only through newspapers, like the Times, that he could achieve maximum impact and audience attention. The publication of the Afghan war logs caused a lot of scandal and many other wikileak material is still being researched, verified and published by the paper.
As mentioned, my favourite 'character' within the documentary was definitely David Carr, as his seemingly harmless disposition and raspy voice would lure you into a false sense of security before he would voice an opinion, raise an argument or insult you. Even when Carr was interviewed or involved in panels with other journalists who clearly did not like him, a great deal of respect was afforded to him and you could tell that his opinion mattered.
I thought the documentary exemplified many of the talking points of the lectures, dealing with newspaper values, ethics, controversies, online competition and investigative journalistic practices to name a few. It was surprisingly funny and entertaining, addressing serious issues in an intellectual and stimulating way.
