HBO's The Newsroom--- Make Existential Truth A Priority

After watching HBO's The Newsroom, I felt that the news anchor was played exceptionally well by Jeff Daniels. I was not offended nor was I in complete acceptance or in agreement with the information he presented. I absolutely do not agree that this is the worst time to be born, perhaps because I strive to be informed and I choose to believe that examining the context of events in the larger media landscape is what is important. The answers inform how we can improve as a nation, and I believe we have the power to change and grow as does every nation with better or worse numbers in varying categories of societal well being.

The sorority girl asks, "What makes the US the greatest country in the world?" I don't believe there is such a thing. I believe that when we look at "greatness" there are a lot of factors to be considered, and the college student clearly didn't define any criteria. I feel that there are ideals each country can strive for, and this is where journalism has a hand. It informs us on how we are evolving and living in our globally connected world. Journalism informs the public and we inform democracy whether locally, nationally or internationally. We have a say in how we want our government to engage with the world, and as the anchor suggested, we can't scare so easy. It is one thing to be informed, it is another to demand appropriate action. Greatness comes from having an informed voice.

When we have data on rates of crime, poverty, education and infant mortality and those figures are not where we want them to be, we as citizens can demand action from government to improve on those categories of health. Journalism is supposed to be the voice of the people and representative of the change we seek. Journalism has succeeded in regurgitating facts and the anchor is able to report on those numbers because technological advances we have made allow him to obtain the information readily. The bigger question the anchor is alluding to is why are we satisfied with those numbers and how have we allowed them to get where they are? His answer is that we are not as informed as we once were nor are we demanding change.

We have entered into an age of journalism that is bombarded by government and corporate entities and we now identify ourselves by categories such as our political affiliations. The anchor says, "I voted for candidates run by both major political parties." He is doing his best to avoid influencing his viewing audience and is making a point that he votes on whom he feels will best represent the country not on which party the candidate represents. The anchor wants people to strive for their own understanding of an existential truth, not just what is happening in the moment but how stories we read about matter in the world and at home in our country. The anchor throws out a lot of numbers on how the US compares to other countries and reminds us that we used to "strive for intelligence."  If we want to improve the quality of life for ourselves and for others in the world we have to remember it's not about the numbers it's what the numbers and the information mean in the larger context of how we live and navigate our relations with neighbors and nations.

 Robert Manoff of the Department of Journalism at NYU, speaks to the desires of the anchor from the News Room, he reminds us to look at how and why we report news and the impact journalists have on society. "Perhaps "To Whose Benefit?" should always be on the agenda, with answers to be shaped by concern for the vigor of republican subjecthood and the vitality of the public sphere. Finally, as should be obvious... I would expect that journalists will be taught to ask, always, "What Does It Mean?," with existential concerns uppermost in their minds when doing so."1


1. Robert Manoff, Department of Journalism NYU, Director of Center for War, Peace and News Media. Democratic Journalism and the Republican Subject: Or the Real American Dream and What Journalism Educators Can Do About It. Original Post Online 09/16/2002. Online 9/20/13.
http://journalism.nyu.edu/publishing/archives/debate/forum.1.essay.manoff.html