Journalism, cinema-style
The Harvard Summer School Writing Program just launched a new film series on cinematic treatments of American journalism. The first of the free weekly offerings, on June 25, drew an audience of 50 to Hall A in the Science Center. “Page One: Inside The New York Times,” a 2010 documentary, offers a rare inside view of how news is gathered and tweaked and filtered at the famous Gray Lady. More importantly, the hourlong film looks at the single most pressing question for traditional media outlets today: Will they survive the slings and arrows of the new media age? Tweets, blogs, news-aggregating websites, and other information alternates are raining down on Fortress Newsroom nationwide, knocking profits awry, killing ad revenue, and picking off veteran staffers. At the Times, according to voices in the film, the answer is yes — it will change and grow and survive. It was the Times, for one, that pioneered...