Page One: Inside the New York Times (2011)

Unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom yields a complex view of the transformation of a media landscape fraught with both peril and opportunity.

Director:

Andrew Rossi

Writers:

Kate Novack, Andrew Rossi

Stars:

Sarah Ellison, Larry Ingrassia, David Carr

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Ellison	...	Herself
Larry Ingrassia	...	Himself
David Carr	...	Himself
Dennis Crowley	...	Himself
Bruce Headlam	...	Himself
Evan Williams	...	Himself
Richard Perez-Pena	...	Himself
Paul Steiger	...	Himself
Clay Shirky	...	Himself
Markos Moulitsas	...	Himself
Brian Stelter	...	Himself
Seth Mnookin	...	Himself
Alex S. Jones	...	Himself
Nicholas Lemann	...	Himself
Ian Fisher	...	Himself

Storyline

During the most tumultuous time for media in generations, filmmaker Andrew Rossi gains unprecedented access to the newsroom at The New York Times. For a year, he follows journalists on the paper's Media Desk, a department created to cover the transformation of the media industry. Through this prism, a complex view emerges of a media landscape fraught with both peril and opportunity, especially at the Times itself.

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Plot Keywords:

journalism

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Taglines:

This year, the biggest story is their own.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including some sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 2011 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Untitled New York Times Project

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$28,911 (USA) (17 June 2011)

Gross:

$1,067,028 (USA) (14 October 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Participant Media, History Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #6.173 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Paper Tiger"
Written by Beck (as Beck Hansen)
Performed by Beck
Published by Astidal, LLC
Administered by Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc.
Courtesy of Geffen Records under license
from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Decent Documentary Focuses Too Much on Jaded Journalist

Page One: Inside the New York Times is not a documentary about a day in the life of a newspaper. Instead, it is more social commentary from the New York Times' media desk about the current state of newspapers, their antagonizing relationship with news aggregators and social media, and a bit forlorn about how robust the New York Times used to be compared to their current staffing levels based on the combined loss of ad revenue and print subscriptions. The majority of this film focuses on the paper's media section, specifically on the cantankerous journalist David Carr, a former crack addict now social media watchdog. He frequently goes to conferences and events to defend his newspaper against social media sites who proclaim the death of news print and the inevitable rise of the internet news leviathan. Unfortunately for them, David Carr fights backs with some old common sense. In the most effective scene, he holds up a hardcopy of Newser's front page showing all of the news aggregated links on it. His next exhibit has all of the links cut out of it which were 'stolen' from the mainstream media making the Newser's front page look absolutely ridiculous and full of holes for all to see.

Too bad for the film's audience though, David Carr comes across as more of an a**hole for most of the film and you welcome to other locales and issues the documentary focuses on when it's not on Carr. There are scenes of employee layoffs, contrite apologies about Judith Miller and Jayson Blair, and the continuing defense that without the large, networked mainstream media, these new social media / news aggregator sites would have nothing to link to on their websites. These professional at-home bloggers do not have bureaus in Baghdad, stringers in war zones, and in an amusing side bit, they do not have people following their hometown zoning boards either.

Page One is effective at showing the audience that hardcopy newspapers are not dead yet and they still provide a considerable service to those who wish to remain informed. Regrettably, the film spends way too much time on David Carr and the media section which bogs down the film and makes the audience wait for the next segment not involving Carr.