Proudly Wearing My Fedora

Have you noticed a trend in the smart dramas being released this year? It seems awfully timely to do what Hollywood is doing.

State of Play featured a rugged newspaper journalist sparring with the new technologies of blogging. The Soloist rushed onto the screen only four years after the story took place. It, too, had a journalist working hard for a story he cared about so he could sell newspapers.

Both films not-so-blatantly hinted at the turmoil facing nearly every newspaper in the country. I wonder how much the Los Angeles Times paid to have a giant sign displaying the company masthead in the background of one scene in The Soloist. Oh, and not to mention the 30-or-so times Nathaniel (Jamie Foxx) says, “Steven Lopez, Los Angeles Times.”

Cal (Russell Crowe) didn’t work for a “real” newspaper in State of Play, but was anyone not thinking he worked for The Washington Post?

It seems to me this is a last-ditch effort from major newspapers to attempt to save themselves. We’ve seen countless movies featuring journalists, but never at such a clip.

The end of last year saw Frost/Nixon — a story of perhaps one of the best-known journalist coups. Milk also featured newspapers as a way to spread ideas. Zodiac is only two years old. In my entire movie watching life, I don’t recall this many films about journalism – specifically newspapers – in such a short time.

And it’s almost always newspaper reporters that break the story. It’s rarely a TV anchor or reporter. That’s not far from the truth either. Tell me the last time your local news station broke a big story.

Wait, since you might not read the newspaper to begin with, you may not know that your TV station didn’t actually break that story about the mayor swindling tax payers. Usually, it’s the newspaper first and TV picks it up. Hollywood knows this, and it shows in just about every film about journalism.

Print journalism is in unfamiliar waters right now. People want instant news that’s quick and to the point. But accuracy doesn’t always come with quickness. Did we learn nothing from the 2000 presidential election? Go watch Farenheit: 9/11. Or better yet, Recount. That way you can’t accuse me of Michael Moore pandering.

In Recount, the Gore campaign advisors tell him not to concede just yet because “the oldest news organization in the world hasn’t called the election.” They’re talking about the Associated Press. Those are the newspaper reporters. The AP got it right the first time it called that election.

We may not always be the fastest, but we certainly spend more time and care on each story to make sure that the readers get the full story, and not a 90-second package that only skims the surface. We dive in, put people on the spot when necessary, and deliver to you accurate reports.

Then TV reads our headlines to you.

Kitt Kitteredge was an attempt to alert the kids to the importance of journalism. Changeling is all about uncovering of corruption and greed through the papers.

It’s unfortunate The Ring couldn’t save the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. That’s where Rachel (Naomi Watts) worked.

So watch the movies this summer and fall with a close eye because Hollywood’s whispers are growing louder. Through portrayals of passionate reporters, maybe, just maybe, good journalism won’t die.

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Comments can be sent to: dcassavaugh@wdt.net