Newsroom- A Liberal Dreamworld

The fictional newsroom in Newsroom is a liberal playground where registered Republicans grow intolerant of the radical takeover of the party, people punch Rush Limbaugh in the face (or at least his image on a computer screen), and present fact over partisan rancor as a public service. Suffice it to say the facts are not on the side of the conservative party. It’s what liberals want the fourth estate to be. It’s this celebration of the idealism of true journalistic standards that is at the root of what is at times a fantastic show.

For me, it’s Aaron Sorkin’s rapid-fire, unrealistic banter that’s the evil-doer threatening to water down the show. The show’s characters are already waiting with their snappy comebacks before the words are out of the mouths of their compadres. Does it ruin the show? I don’t believe it does. It certainly creates more of a zany, sitcom-type atmosphere than seems appropriate given the subject matter though. If I sound like a humorless curmudgeon, well that’s half accurate. I’ll cop to being a curmudgeon, but I’ve been known to laugh on occasion. Sitcoms haven’t been funny since the 80s though.

Quibbles aside, I love the meat of the show. Facts are facts and true journalists vigorously pursue said facts. There are not two equal sides to every story. If one side says the Earth is round, and the other claims it is actually a rectangular, the truth doesn’t lie somewhere in the middle (which would make the Earth a triangle?). That’s what I enjoy about Newsroom, the portrayal of the idealism of journalism and dedication of the journalists. That’s what journalism should be, and may in fact be in some circles. Liberals can be comfortable that more often than not in this day and age, the facts fall on their side when the smoke is cleared.