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Still the same
Though 1994's The Paper is more than a decade old, its messages and themes still hold true regarding the journalism industry. The movie depicts the reality of a newsroom and the potential conflicts reporters face in their professional and personal lives. Journalism is a fast-paced industry that makes you question your decision as fast as you make them. The film takes place in New York City at the fictional New York Sun newspaper. The story focuses around dysfunctional, yet proactive Metro Editor, Henry Hackett and a series of personal and professional ethical dilemmas.
Professional Ethical Conflicts
The Paper's main professional conflict focuses around two innocent teenagers arrested for murdering two businessmen. While the rest of the world seems to believe they're the culprits, Hackett questions their innocence. However in the middle of the day's chaos, Hackett steals the lead of the New York Sentinel during a job interview. As a journalists this is a huge ethical conflict. After hearing police officers discuss the case on a police scanner, Hackett and another Sun's reporter Michael McDougal are suspicious and launch an investigation. This decision shows Hackett and McDougal "seeking the truth and reporting it," the number one ethical code in the Society of Professional Journalist's Ethics Code. Journalists should be honest and courageous in reporting in the news, never settling for anything less then the truth. They have every right to investigate suspicious thoughts or hunches, it's a part of being a gatekeeper. As the story develops, Hackett finds out the men murdered were connected to the city's Mafia. They pursue a source from the police department for a quote to determine the boys' innocence. The methods Hackett and McDougal take pursuing a quote from the cop present ethical dilemmas. Should they be interrogating, tag-teaming, guilt-tripping and pressuring him for a quote? Encouraging him to remain anonymous purely to get a quote? All ethical concerns.
The largest point of ethical conflict arrives when Managing Editor, Alicia Clark, prints the paper with an incorrect headline, and says they only need to be right for today not tomorrow. Hackett knows this is unethical for a journalist. It's our duty to report the truth and accuracy. He tells Clark that if people read the incorrect headline they'll believe it. In the world of news, reporting the truth tomorrow is never the case. In the real world, a similar ethical dilemma arose last year when the New York Post printed an incorrect picture on the font page identifying the wrong suspects of the Boston bombing. Journalists have to be right.
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| www.newscastic.com |
While dealing with professional conflicts and ethical dilemmas, Hackett experiences outside pressures from his pregnant wife to leave his job, and make his family his first priority. These pressures affect how Hackett handles his job. Does he wait tomorrow to run a story, so he can attend a family dinner? Does he not chase a story? Is how he reports on a story influenced by his family? The pressures from personal lives affect how we make decisions and pursue actions. As journalists it's difficult to distinguish personal lives from professionals ones.
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