Type 鈥淩ex Murphy鈥� into Google and guess what immediately pops up 鈥� oil sands. Click on that and it鈥檚 countless articles on how the CBC host is being perceived by everyone to be a shill for the oil industry. To be fair, the previous host of that show had to give up his union presidency over a perceived conflict of interest, but this is the now and I suppose things are done differently in the news world today.
Sigh, it sure is. In fact, the network news world has become so pathetic that for one to find hard-hitting news one has to turn to鈥� HBO? Sadly, yes. HBO鈥檚 The Newsroom is a fantastic dissection of the sad state of news in North America.
The first scene of the first episode went viral and it鈥檚 a great monologue that definitely sets the tone for the series.
Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) is a closet conservative news anchor who specializes in not saying what he thinks. He sits on a stage with two fellow anchors being asked what makes America the best country. While his cohorts regurgitate meaningless power phrases, he sits there and calmly states, 鈥渋t isn鈥檛,鈥� and goes into a great tirade.
Basically, if you read/watch/listen to network news, you are not being informed, you are being sold. Journalists want to do good work but they are being paid and you have to report the news you鈥檙e being paid to report. It鈥檚 quite possible this show only hit a nerve because the journalist in me has always been driven bonkers by this obvious charade. But no, turns out others like the show as well.
The show works best when it鈥檚 dissecting the news and worst when it fails miserably at throwing in workplace romance. But all in all, it鈥檚 worth a watch and as luck would have it, the first season is available right now at our fantastic library and everywhere online鈥� enjoy.
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