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The Newsroom: Series Premiere

By Matt Meier · June 28, 2012

As a show centered on politics and the media, The Newsroom unsurprisingly takes no shame in bloviating on contemporary American issues with the cynicism one would expect of an Aaron Sorkin teleplay. Less than five minutes in, our protagonist, hotshot news anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) apoplectically refutes a “sorority girl’s” question of “Why is America the best country in the world?”

“Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting both some day, there are some things you should know…we’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy…we lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita; number of adults who believe angels are real; and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined…so when you ask what makes us the best country in the world, I don’t know what the f— you’re talking about. Yosemite?”

This diatribe of course precedes a longwinded speech of patriotic nostalgia—the greatness we once were and how far we’ve fallen since. And it’s all coming from a character described off the bat as “the Jay Leno of news”: popularly non-polarizing.

And like that, we’re in on the hook: this is the story of McAvoy’s arc from Jay Leno to Edward R. Murrow. 

The tirade results in McAvoy’s entire staff leaving him for a new news program, while network head Charlie Skinner (Sam Waterston) hires a new Executive Producer (EP), Mackenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer) to stir the pot. “Mac,” as she’s called, is a no-bullshit reporter who never shies away from controversy and has a Dr. House-type eye for the details of things—oh, and she also used to date McAvoy roughly seven years back before an ostensibly bitter break-up. McAvoy tries to have her removed right away and finagles a clause in her contract that allows him firing rights at the end of every week, a clause he sacrificed half his multi-million dollar paycheck to achieve.

In addition to the romantic/professional tensions between Mac and McAvoy as she attempts to steer him toward more audacious and noble reporting, we also have some side romantic tensions between McAvoy’s new assistant, Maggie Jordan (Alison Pill), and her less-than affectionate boyfriend, Don (Thomas Sadoski), who was McAvoy’s EP before jumping ship following the notorious “Yosemite” tirade.

When the story of the BP oil spill breaks, Don brushes it off—the story only received a yellow label when it broke, making it a negligible story—while Mac’s right-hand man, Jim Harper (John Gallagher, Jr.), who may or may not have feelings for Don’s girlfriend (Maggie), persistently pushes his sources and information on the story until convincing Mac and McAvoy to put together an epic breaking newscast, beating out all the other competitors.

In other words, the all but unanimous presumption that The Newsroom would essentially be the media’s version of The West Wing could not have been more accurate.  Even the opening credits fall in line with the West Wing formula: patriotic music behind black and white images of the primary backdrop with slow motion footage of characters hurriedly going about their business.

Whereas The West Wing focused on how our nation conducts politics, The Newsroom, as the premise suggests, focuses on how we discuss them. It is a ripe thematic centerpiece for a time when our nation is more politically divided than ever.  News networks perpetually strive for ratings over provocation by directly upholding the hegemonic tendencies of their base or avoiding insightful controversy altogether: liberals watch MSNBC, conservatives watch FOX NEWS, and airport passengers waiting for their flight to arrive watch CNN.

“Everywhere I look, people are dressed up in costumes screaming about how bad government is,” McAvoy says at one point.

“And what’s your position?” Don asks.

“That people should know what they’re screaming about.”

As previously stated, the context leaves ample room for bloviation, and I expect McAvoy’s assault on contemporary American values to persist through upcoming episodes. Like West Wing, the soap opera elements will carry viewership regardless of the show’s appeal as a zeitgeist. The impressive veteran cast has all the tools to handle whatever drama Sorkin and his writers throw their way, and our investment in the characters and their arc as things progress will presumably take precedent over the show’s obvious hook as a prominent political zeitgeist.

That being said, the zeitgeist element could likely carry even more weight than in the case of West Wing. Almost paradoxically so, it is much easier to remain politically neutral when crafting a show’s politics than it is when writing a show about political commentary—or so it would seem. Since McAvoy’s primary arc involves transitioning from political neutrality to political confrontation, I expect more monologues in future episodes like the one with which McAvoy begins the pilot. The edgier the show becomes with its politics, the more credible it becomes in its convictions.

I cannot deny the show’s immediate quality and genuine potential. But while The Newsroom takes no time in patting itself on the back for vocalizing the thoughts of many, many like myself are left ideologically unassuaged, thinking, “tell us something we don’t already know,” and praying that the show can live up to its name.