The Newsroom 3.1: Media on Media

I could've lived without a show about the Boston bombings, but if it was to be done, the best way to do it would be The Newsroom, which told the story of the Boston bombings tonight with all of the brilliance and trimmings we've come to expect of this remarkable show.   A good way indeed to start off its final season, sad as that fact is and tragic as the Boston bombings are.

As always, the media are the story on The Newsroom, and, in particular, the way not only The Newsroom crew but other media covered the Boston bombings.    The Newsroom people are understandably wary of going with any story or information too soon, given the burning they received with the Genoa story last season.   But not so other media - traditional and social.

John King on CNN, in reality and on this episode, wrongly reported that the FBI had a suspect.   King was and is a well-respected journalist, so The Newsroom was tempted to go along with his report, but wisely holds back.

Far more egregious is what Reddit did in reality.   They crowd-sourced an attempt to identify the bombers, and came up badly wrong.   The suspect they thought they ID'd - a Brown University student - was in reality a poor soul who hurt no one except himself.   After Reddit put his family through the anguish of an incorrect identification as one of the bombers, the family suffered further anguish when it was discovered that the student was missing because he had taken his own life.   Will was right to lash out at citizen journalism in this case.

Meanwhile, as always, The Newsroom has other stories percolating and ready to boil.   Neil, for noble reasons, may be guilty of abetting espionage.   And it seems that the whole network may be vulnerable to a hostile financial takeover.

The Newsroom has just started - as Will also says near the end - and, knowing that this will be the last season it starts, I miss it already.


analysis of the first two seasons


See also The Newsroom Season 2 Debuts on Occupy Wall Street and More ... and (about Trayvon Martin) If Only There Was a Video Recording ... The Newsroom 2.2: The Power of Video ... The Newsroom 2.7: Autopsy of a Bad Decision ... The Newsroom 2.8: The Course of True Love ... The Newsroom Season 2 Finale: Love, Triumph, and Wikipedia

And see also The Newsroom and McLuhan ... The Newsroom and The Hour ...The Newsroom Season 1 Finale: The Lost Voice Mail



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