The Newsroom: a Blockbuster Myth-Buster
“Show me a man who thinks he’s objective, and I’ll show you a man who’s deceiving himself.” – Henry Luce
Everyday, we are witnesses to the grandeur of the media, be it broadcast, print or online. It is regarded as one of the most influential institutions at work. People in this field have formidable powers to purvey knowledge, to mold minds, and to shape societies. And Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom takes us exactly where these powers are first carried out – in the newsroom. The show’s first episode entitled We Just Decided To opens with Atlantis Cable Network’s News Night anchor Will McAvoy, played by Jeff Daniels, alongside two other anchors of different shows answering students’ questions at a university forum. While the other two anchors give opposing answers based on opposing political beliefs, McAvoy demonstrates his well-known objective, nonpartisan self by giving genial, humorous remarks. When a female sophomore asks them to explain why America is the greatest country in the world, Will gives his usual witty answer. But when the host urges him to give a more serious answer, he loses his “objective” composure. He lets out an outburst of reasons why America is not the greatest anymore, therefore revealing the hidden bias and subjectivity in him. When he returns to ACN three weeks after, he is welcomed with two bad news. First his executive producer, Don Keefer, played by Thomas Sadoski, and majority of his staff are leaving for another program. This is where Don frankly tells him that Will surely knows his stuff, but his degrading attitude towards his staff makes it hard for them to work with him. One of this degraded staff is Maggie Jordan, played by Alison Pill, Will’s assistant whose name Will can’t even remember. Despite being unappreciated by his boss, she sticks to him and does not join the departing staff. Second, Will’s boss, Charlie Skinner, played by Sam Waterston, hires for him a new executive producer in the persona of Mackenzie MacHale,
Everyday, we are witnesses to the grandeur of the media, be it broadcast, print or online. It is regarded as one of the most influential institutions at work. People in this field have formidable powers to purvey knowledge, to mold minds, and to shape societies. And Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom takes us exactly where these powers are first carried out – in the newsroom. The show’s first episode entitled We Just Decided To opens with Atlantis Cable Network’s News Night anchor Will McAvoy, played by Jeff Daniels, alongside two other anchors of different shows answering students’ questions at a university forum. While the other two anchors give opposing answers based on opposing political beliefs, McAvoy demonstrates his well-known objective, nonpartisan self by giving genial, humorous remarks. When a female sophomore asks them to explain why America is the greatest country in the world, Will gives his usual witty answer. But when the host urges him to give a more serious answer, he loses his “objective” composure. He lets out an outburst of reasons why America is not the greatest anymore, therefore revealing the hidden bias and subjectivity in him. When he returns to ACN three weeks after, he is welcomed with two bad news. First his executive producer, Don Keefer, played by Thomas Sadoski, and majority of his staff are leaving for another program. This is where Don frankly tells him that Will surely knows his stuff, but his degrading attitude towards his staff makes it hard for them to work with him. One of this degraded staff is Maggie Jordan, played by Alison Pill, Will’s assistant whose name Will can’t even remember. Despite being unappreciated by his boss, she sticks to him and does not join the departing staff. Second, Will’s boss, Charlie Skinner, played by Sam Waterston, hires for him a new executive producer in the persona of Mackenzie MacHale,