PAGE ONE, INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES
US, 2011, 92 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Andrew Rossi.
This documentary was filmed during 2009 and 2010, release 2011. His focus is on the crisis for newspapers, online news information, the reduction of advertising for newspapers, financial issues, sackings, reorganisation… And these themes have continued through the 2000 and tenths into the 2020s.
This is very interesting film to watch in retrospect. There are many interviews by staff of the New Your Times, as well as commentators on media and communications issues, some with hopes for the continuing of the papers, setting up websites and charging for visitors? Others more enthusiastic about alternate online means of communication, instant communication rather than a daily paper.
Of particular interest in retrospect is the issue of the WikiLeaks, Juliana sounds and the decision by the New York Times to publish his material. There is reference to Daniel Ellsberg and the Washington Post and the Pentagon Papers crisis in the 1970s, highlighting it was a different time spent in the location and with 2010
The controversial video released by WikiLeaks about the deaths in Iraq, the vast number of pages released, interviews with Juliana sounds, issue of whether he was a reporter or journalist, political issues, ethical issues, media issues, decision to publish and highlight after redaction to prevent danger to American citizens.
Throughout the film there are interviews with David Carter, former addict and now journalist, strong-minded, pursuit of interviews, very much pro newspapers, moving towards acceptance of the online transitions.
It is interesting, also in retrospect, to note how many male interviewees there are in the film. There are some women and the prospect of the new manager of the Times being a woman, but the world presented in this documentary is very much a male world.
The film is useful for its focus of the issues for newspapers at that time, a useful retrospect – but the issues are still significant, with the comments in this film about the use of twitter and its immediacy and in the 2020s with Elon Musk and the transition to X.
