Archetypes In Hollywood Journalism
Depending on what you watch, Journalists can be portrayed as many different things. They can be considered good, bad, or something in between. In the pilot episode of The Newsroom, Hollywood makes one thing clear: Journalists are heroes we need, but might not always want. In the opening scene it starts with Will McAvoy struggling to decide whether he should remain civil and keep the peace between the liberal and conservative sides by keeping his true opinions to himself or tell everyone what he really thinks. In the audience he sees what he believes to be a hallucination of an old lover (which we later find out is actually her), pushing him to give his truths. Will eventually goes with his gut and decides to question why anyone could possibly think America is the greatest country in the World, when the only things we are number one in, according to statistics are, “number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults that believe angels are real, and defense spending…” This is obviously a controversial topic. Just like his tone, it becomes clear that the truth can be harsh but it is necessary to get the point across. From the reaction of the audience it is evident that they consider his words to be blasphemy and refuse to believe the facts that are right in front of them.
As the pilot episode continues it’s obvious that McAvoy is still fighting a battle within himself. Fighting over whether it’s more important to be popular with his audience or to get the truth out to the public. In the end truth wins out again. Hollywood showcases his internal battle externally with the Deep Water Horizon disaster. Don Keefer, his current executive producer, that is leaving and taking most of Will’s crew, is seen as the bad guy who repeatedly ignores all the facts given to him by Jim Harper, deciding to focus on the missing crew after the initial explosion. On the other side is Mackenzie and her senior producer, Jim, who believes it’s important to give the truth no matter what it may be and at any risk. They shoot for the story that shows the company in charge knew that their cement was faulty and let the oil spill into the Gulf. Eventually Will chooses to run the story Jim builds and allows Mackenzie to be his Executive Producer, although begrudgingly. This new team, though constantly bickering behind the scenes, is able to pull through and deliver the news flawlessly, making his viewers trust in the news he is delivering. This scene gives us a rundown of how a newsroom is supposed to work while also giving a dramatic flare that we expect out of Hollywood. We later on find out that every other news channel ran Don’s original story and the episode ends with us wondering if what we perceive as good, really is. Of course knowing how the news reported is based on true events we know that the story they went with was the right choice.
