Second NEWSROOM Trailer gets Opinionated

The second trailer for Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming HBO drama THE NEWSROOM takes an evolutionary step forward from the first, focusing less on the main character’s epiphany and more on the rebellious break from the norm that follows, a break that ostensibly transforms a strait laced news show into something more activist and opinionated in tone.

We can talk all day about Sorkin’s incessant need to place an idealistic messiah in his work or make TV shows that feel perilously similar, but my main concern is that this show may not resonate with audiences that feel like the shift to opinion-first journalism has already taken place. Our technology is evolving as is the way we get our information and the move away from classic news sources like TV and print toward the net has been well documented. That move has also been largely fueled by the hunger for instant content but its also been helped along by bloggers, podcasters, and internet broadcasters that aren’t weighed down by pretend objectivity like classic news readers, thus giving the networks permission to follow suit, for better or for worse.

You’d think that a show about TV news would note that switch and offer some respect to cyber-journalism, and maybe it will, but Sorkin has always had a distaste for bloggers and the moment in this trailer where Jeff Daniels’ character responds to the fact that he has a blog, seems to indicate that that distaste is still alive and well.

All in all, I’m looking forward to THE NEWSROOM (which debuts on June 24th) but I’m also mindful that Aaron Sorkin likes a soap box, and he LOVES delivering the same speech over and over again. Trouble is, the state of journalism is a moving target, and I’m concerned that Sorkin may already be off the mark.

aaron sorkin, dev patel, HBO, jeff daniels, the newsroom, Trailer