SIFF: Page One: Inside the New York Times
On Wednesday night, I saw my first documentary of the film festival, Page One: Inside the New York Times, which examined the paper, its current situation, and its future in context of burgeoning new media. The doc introduced a number of key players at the paper, but focused a lot of its attention on journalists Brian Stelter and David Carr, both of whom cover media and both of whom had quite a bit to say about the evolution of news and reporting in a world where anyone can upload video of an event, where analysis and context often get lost in the shuffle, and where changing times have brought about changes in the business that people are still scrambling to adjust to.
Carr, a man with a checkered past and a whiskey-and-cigarettes growl, becomes one of the most compelling figures in the film, with clear principles and a finely-honed point of view, in some ways the classic, old-school reporter. His work on the Tribune Media bankruptcy story was one of the central threads of the movie, that and the paper's treatment of its development. I found this particularly interesting not just because Carr is a great character (I really enjoyed watching him work; he's not afraid to say anything to anyone), but because my brother works at Newsday, a Tribune Media property. Stelter is featured as being at the vanguard of a new breed of journalist, perpetually wired, tapping into new media in ways more traditional journalists are only just learning to do. He got the Times' attention with his blog, and was hired as a result of it. He comes across as very focused, very sharp, and, as his Twitter profile photo attests, has a winning smile. Journalist Tim Arango and Editor Bruce Headlam are also featured.
As a loyal NY Times reader, the documentary was a must-see for me and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought it provided an interesting view into the news business and the Times specifically.
After the movie, SIFF hosted a panel discussion about issues surrounding the news business and new media. The panel included a communications professor from the University of Washington, a Seattle Times journalist, and a journalist from a local news organization the name of which escapes me. Brian Stetler was supposed to participate in this discussion as well, but his flight from Chicago was delayed by weather. I was disappointed at his absence but, nevertheless thought the discussion was quite interesting, touching on waning enrollment in college journalism programs, the introduction of the Times' new pay wall (about which I'm still conflicted, I admit, though the points that were made were persuasive in favor of it), education's lack of focus on analysis of information, and more. Good talk. All in all, a fine evening.
Carr, a man with a checkered past and a whiskey-and-cigarettes growl, becomes one of the most compelling figures in the film, with clear principles and a finely-honed point of view, in some ways the classic, old-school reporter. His work on the Tribune Media bankruptcy story was one of the central threads of the movie, that and the paper's treatment of its development. I found this particularly interesting not just because Carr is a great character (I really enjoyed watching him work; he's not afraid to say anything to anyone), but because my brother works at Newsday, a Tribune Media property. Stelter is featured as being at the vanguard of a new breed of journalist, perpetually wired, tapping into new media in ways more traditional journalists are only just learning to do. He got the Times' attention with his blog, and was hired as a result of it. He comes across as very focused, very sharp, and, as his Twitter profile photo attests, has a winning smile. Journalist Tim Arango and Editor Bruce Headlam are also featured.
As a loyal NY Times reader, the documentary was a must-see for me and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought it provided an interesting view into the news business and the Times specifically.
After the movie, SIFF hosted a panel discussion about issues surrounding the news business and new media. The panel included a communications professor from the University of Washington, a Seattle Times journalist, and a journalist from a local news organization the name of which escapes me. Brian Stetler was supposed to participate in this discussion as well, but his flight from Chicago was delayed by weather. I was disappointed at his absence but, nevertheless thought the discussion was quite interesting, touching on waning enrollment in college journalism programs, the introduction of the Times' new pay wall (about which I'm still conflicted, I admit, though the points that were made were persuasive in favor of it), education's lack of focus on analysis of information, and more. Good talk. All in all, a fine evening.