Anyone who has watched HBO's "The Newsroom" understands its intriguing, intense, chaotic and blunt characteristics that keep the audience on their feet for almost the entire duration of an episode.
Recently, I have found a new guilty pleasure in the series, or yet another show to binge watch all night long.
Created by Aaron Sorkin, the show opens its hypothetical curtain with a bang. TV news anchor, played by Jeff Daniels, gives an explanation as to why America isn’t the greatest country in the world anymore. While the show is hypothetical, the scene went viral on many social media platforms, including Facebook. (If given the chance, I recommend that everyone should take a few minutes out of their day to watch it!)
I was originally shown the opening scenes of the pilot episode in my journalism class a few months ago. Once the episode had ended I was so in awe of the show that I was sure about two things: First, I had to watch the whole series ASAP. Second, I had no idea that there were real people, other than me, who could talk at an alarmingly fast rate.
According to Carla Seaquist, a playwright and writer for a blog run by Huffington Post, “what’s inspiring to [her] is that this series, at least in its opening episodes, comes with serious purpose: It both acknowledges America’s fallen state, and the fallen state of the news media[…].”
If the opening sequence isn’t riveting enough, the series continues with the cast’s spontaneous, yet skillfully calibrated response to political, environmental and realistic problems that occur in the United States every day through the media outlet of prime time news broadcasting.
While I usually do not find appeal in shows that include constant political criticisms, I was certain about one thing regarding the HBO series. I knew that even if the chaotic environment of their newsroom was not necessarily realistic, having a small portion of that chaos would allow me to consider my future career as a journalist a success.
However, while I personally enjoy the show all around, I may be the minority when it comes to that feeling. After reading many articles written by real-life journalists and show critics about their response to "The Newsroom," I must address the opposing side of public criticisms about the series.
Many writers were quick to acknowledge that many journalists have negative criticisms regarding the HBO series. And many people would love to hate the show in its entirety.
According to Alex Garofalo, a culture writer for International Business Times, “In addition to the show’s lack of acknowledgement of any accomplishments of modern journalism, 'The Newsroom' imagines a media outlet free from the constraints of ratings, political pressure, need for revenue or compromise and seems to suggest that anything less is unethical.”
However, as an upcoming student journalist, I can’t help but fall in love with the show. While I believe that one day I would become a writer for a newspaper, broadcast journalism is quickly becoming much more intriguing with the help from Aaron Sorkin and his cast of newsroom journalists. Although critics and journalists may be right about the misconceptions and inaccuracies regarding “The Newsroom,” it does result in a lot more research being done on my part as someone who wants to become a successful journalist one day.
Even though I haven’t finished the first season, let alone all three, I look forward to watching the show in its entirety.
At the very end of the opening speech in the pilot episode of “The Newsroom,” Daniel’s character concludes with the line, “First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one.” And, while his character is referring to why America is no longer the greatest country in the world, I think that it illustrates a good basis for the purpose of journalism and media outlets in today’s society -- having a voice and reporting on issues that may be difficult to discuss, but needed to be heard.
And "The Newsroom" inspires me to do just that.
