After one-hour and thirty-two minutes, I am as convinced as I can ever be that while the state of newspapers are continuing to decline, the honesty and integrity of those behind the paper and ink product are unchanging.
Watching Andrew Rossi’s Page One: Inside The New York Times made me remember why I wanted to be a newspaper reporter some four decades ago. I doubt, however, that everyone will feel like I did. If there is a problem with the movie, it has to be its lack of specificity. Many of the problems in journalism today are broached, but not taken on in the full frontal manner that any city desk editor would demand.
Yes, there are layoffs. Yes, there are fewer readers. Yes, there are questions on the viability and future of a paper and ink news product. What is missing is a nut graph showing how the problems in today’s journalism can be remedied for a new generation that appears to be insatiable in its desire for news
I have never, and likely will never work for an organization like The New York Times; instead, I have worked for its smaller siblings around the country. The difference is that while many of the newspapers I worked at are now out of business, or have become shadows of their former selves, The New York Times, by virtue of being The New York Times, will (and must) endure and persevere the revolution of news gathering that we are seeing in the 21st century.
Perhaps, I just like the romantic view of The New York Times. I certainly like the romantic view of the newspaper reporter and did my best to live that life. The sad part about the movie is that while I feel the nation’s newspaper of record must continue to exist, I was not convinced at the movie’s end that it would.
Very sad.
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