Newsworthy

Sometimes when people say we are in need of smarter television, I agree with them while simultaneously wondering what it is about today's broadcasting that makes us make such a comment.  Now more than ever we have been flooded with examples of yellow journalism, a concept conceived by William Randolph Hearst and propagated by the many minions running his vast media empire over the 20th and now 21st century.

But perhaps it is this yellow fever of sorts that has infected us all.  If we gravitate toward a newspaper's flamboyant headline, regardless of the truth behind its sentiment, is that the same reason we are drawn to reality television?  Whether it is quasi-scripted or not?  What is it about reality or the lack thereof that continues to wave its hand and successfully gain our attention?

There is cable news, network news, sports and entertainment news, and the list goes on and on.  But maybe the distaste we have for today's broadcasting lies in the very reason we thirst for it.  There are bad people in this world.  We like to put them on display to make us feel less bad.  It is the same reason we are voyeurs.  It is the same reason we are the people who claim to want to read Newsweek from cover to cover but make it through nothing more than the insides of Us Weekly.  We want bad news but we don't have the attention span for it.

Having said all of this, the odd conflict I am having with my brain over this proposed ethical quandary makes me very enthusiastic for the new HBO show, THE NEWSROOM.  Without further ado, and with the tailwind of that rickety argument I just waxed poetic about, here is my top five reasons to get excited about this show:

(1) It has intellectual dialogue.  Finally.  Even if you don't understand it, it is important.  It pushes you to not be ignorant.  In that sense, it is a nutrient.

(2) Jeff Daniels is perfect for the role.  This country is in need of a new Howard Beale and there is no one better suited to the task.

(3) Jane Fonda.  Enough said.

(4) Aaron Sorkin knows how to write.  In the years since September 11th, there has been a hollowing of the American spirit, a warranted mistrust in those who make and feed us the news.  Mr. Sorkin is very good at capturing that solitude and making it resonate.  It makes life since 2001 a little less surreal and a bit more in the vein of an appropriate tapestry of commiserations.

(5) Anything that resembles Sports Night is alright by me.  What a fantastic show that was.  The cataloguing of what was going on off air was as carefully choreographed as a backstage musical and proved just as interesting, if not more, than the on camera during broadcast sequences.  I have waited years for the return of a show like that.

TiVo this show immediately.  And if you are one of those people who doesn't "watch the news," TiVo it anyway.  You may surprise yourself.