Culture

Directed by Andrew Rossi, (4/5).
Page One is the story of an institution in decline, hurt by plummeting advertising revenue and enforced layoffs. It is also shamelessly biased, towards both the New York Times and traditional print media in general. Its protagonists are portrayed as heroic defenders of a vital institution, while its antagonists in the new popular media are portrayed as shallow, sleazy idiots. I suspect that only those sympathetic to the film’s cause (and I am among them) will remain patient with it.

In one early scene the Times’ media journalist, David Carr, interviews writers at Vice magazine about their coverage of the conflict in Liberia. When one of them suggests that Vice had brought the conflict to the public’s attention more successfully than had the Times, Carr snaps, proclaims the superiority of the Times’ reporting and accuses his now-browbeaten subjects of Gonzo-showboating. Quavering apologies follow, and Carr continues the interview.
The scene encapsulates the (perhaps justifiably) patronising attitude of both Carr and the film towards new popular media. A staunch defence of substance over style, the film locates traditional broadsheets at the heart of all news media. Online publications such as Huffington Post and Newser are repeatedly depicted as taking a hypocritical stance, namely proclaiming traditional print media to be obsolete, whilst directly relying on it for content and agenda.
Eulogies for the Times flow thick and fast, particularly in the film’s early stages. Many scenes, such as those depicting the paper’s involvement with Julian Assange and Wikileaks, seem carefully constructed to emphasise the paper’s objectivity, status and influence. Meanwhile, interviews with an employee of Gawker are cut with shots of Gawker stories about orgies and poo.
However, the real star of the show is Carr. An ex-con and former drug addict, Carr’s love for the paper, his derision of populist media and his resistance to change fit perfectly with the angle of the film itself. Possessing a brilliant mind and resembling an oversized vulture, he hoarsely skewers everyone outside the paper with wonderfully caustic, cynical wit, and is responsible for the film’s best moments.
Page One is a fast-paced, fascinating look at a legendary newspaper and the challenges it faces in the future. Balanced it is not. But it is guaranteed to make any literate Dunedinite intensely jealous of New Yorkers.