Movie Review – Page One: Inside the New York Times

Photo Credit, Google Images. Page One: Inside the New York Times is a documentary that takes you inside the most popular newspaper in America.

What a powerful, informative documentary. Page One: Inside the New York Times really delves into the topic of media producing news. Growing up, I have never been one to run for the newspaper. In fact, the only section I ever wanted to look at was the comics section of my local paper. Any news I would catch a glimpse of would be from the nightly news before dinner. College forced me to broaden my horizon. I took a political science class that made me look into and research current events. I became fascinated with the news. I couldn’t get enough of making sure I was up to date on current events – especially because it was a major election year.  And then that semester was over and I was more interested in finishing my Associate’ degree.

Now, I am being a bit more cautious of what is going on. I love books, and I feel at home in bookstores. But the print world is digital now, and it is becoming rare for a person to walk round with a hard-or-paperback book in their hands. It is becoming the same within the news media. So much is digital that all people need to do is go onto the internet on whatever digital device is handy and look up news. Facebook and Twitter give quick links to the news, where more links await the attention of the world.

Photo Credit, Google Images. In the documentary, David Carr, a reporter for the New York Times, consults one of his sources on the phone.

Page One: Inside the New York Times highlights this change in reporting quite well. By taking us behind the scenes, we can see a first-hand look at the struggles that newspapers and magazines are facing. The entire documentary was fascinating – the interviews, the meetings, the research…everything is important to making sure the people have the news they need to make free and self-governing decisions. This is the first priority of journalism. But now, everyone believes they can be a reporter. All they need to do is have their video cameras and phones ready to capture what is going on. Apparently, we are all reporters, and with the help of social media and the rest of the inter-web, anything can be considered “news”.

I have a feeling that in the years to come, I will be going back to this movie to remind myself that there is an art and a sophistication in the practice of journalism. There is an art and sophistication in holding a print newspaper in your hands, turning the pages and smudging the ink with your fingers. Sure, it isn’t as convenient to carry as your phone, but it is still reliable and it is a tradition.

Movie Review – Helvetica

Photo Credit, Google Images. Helvetica is a documentary about the type font that has taken the world by storm.

Helvetica is a film that should be watched more than once. The reason for this is not because it is just dreadfully boring at first. I had to watch it twice because I couldn’t get through it once. I had to force myself to sit and stare at the screen, headphones on to block out the rest of the world. Then I realized something. Helvetica is not a half bad film. I didn’t give it a chance. I was letting other people’s opinions rule my view. The movie itself was long and tiresome and, yes, boring. However, the enthusiasm of the cast was brilliant, if not over-the-top.

As a documentary, Helvetica was well done. As a documentary about type, it was good. I had no idea that the Helvetica typeface was so important. In school, we are taught to use Times New Roman for all essays and homework assignments. It is the only type I have ever consistently and constantly used. It came to the point that I always believed it to be that way for everyone for everything. I experimented with other fonts growing up for various projects for school, but I have never actually used Helvetica.

The history that encompasses the Helvetica typeface is quite rich and interesting. It was a font invented for the purpose of updating an old German sans-serif typeface. It is a polished, clean, and versatile type, one that can be (and is) used for many purposes. What I find fascinating is that Helvetica is not even found on my Microsoft Word application. For such a well-known and well-used type, shouldn’t it be accessible to everyone?

The movie certainly opened my eyes about the use of type and typography. It is a form of art that so few can master. From the documentary, I believe only a select few have the right eye for creating font over the years. I would like to thank them, for without font, I would not be able to do this assignment on the computer. I would not be able to read books. Without font, the world would be so dull and slow and not efficient in any way.

Movie Review – Shattered Glass

Photo Credit, Google Images. Shattered Glass is a movie based on the true story of Steven Glass, a man who created fictional news pieces in order to gain and keep his popularity.

 

I first saw this film last semester in my Ethics of Print Media class. I was hooked on the story as soon as the movie started playing. The portrayal of Stephen Glass, world-known journalistic fabricator, was spot on and done so well that I felt the grave reality that the movie was trying to get across. A journalist must always tell the truth. It’s his job to research and write the facts. But Glass decided his popularity was more important. He got caught in his own web of lies.

Sure, he was charismatic and people loved listening to the lively stories that were the subjects of his assignments. The entire situation of his career was a mess. It is very easy to get caught up in lies. It takes just one lie to start a snowball effect. What I don’t get is why no one caught on to his fabrications sooner. I mean, no one made sure his facts were checked? They just took him for his word. After doing the assignment about fact-checking, it makes me wonder if other journalists were taken at their word for “truth”.

I think Glass got exactly what he deserved. He was in a profession that demanded truth and facts and integrity. If he wanted to make up stories for the sake of popularity, he should have written books…maybe even children books. I think I read somewhere recently that his life after his stint at the New Republic, he was having trouble with his new career choice. Again, he made a lot of mistakes on purpose. I believe he got what he deserved.  I am actually seriously considering adding this film to my movie collection. It is a great documentary and one worth seeing more than twice.