Film Review: Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times

The timing could hardly be better for Page One. Andrew Rossi's riveting report on the health of The New York Times hits the screen as the entire media industry is getting buffeted by change. With the rise of the Internet as a primary news source, along with the loss in ad revenues and circulation for major dailies, it's no secret that newspapers have become an endangered species. Adding to the print world's woes are the layoffs and debilitating cutbacks at surviving papers, along with the prominence of aggregator sites like Gawker and Huffington Post. Enlivened by punchy personalities and a collage-style form, Rossi's documentary (slated to open The Film Society of Lincoln Center's new Eleanor Bunin Munroe Film Center) nervously circles a once-unthinkable question: Can America's paper of record survive the death of newsprint?

Granted amazing access to the Times, Rossi roams its glitzy new precincts, recording cross-cubicle debates and collaborations, even penetrating the sanctum sanctorum of meetings to determine the makeup of page one. He cannily focuses on the Times' ramped-up Media Desk, which reports on shifts in the media industry and the impact of the Internet on traditional institutions, including the Times. By foregrounding the paper's own take on the forces arrayed to undermine it, the film's overarching theme of “Whither Print?” is doubled by internal commentary.

Manning the Media Desk is a cast of intriguing characters—a pretty macho club, it should be said—including Tim Arango, a young reporter covering Comcast's acquisition of NBC, who mid-filming volunteers to go to Baghdad for the paper, and Brian Stelter, an upstart media blogger scooped up by the Times. As Stelter frames a primary dilemma, “Media is trying to do more with less—but how do you cover the President on the cheap?” All but hijacking the show is frog-voiced veteran media reporter David Carr, an unlikely but charismatic spokesman for the paper of record, who by his own admission was a single parent on welfare and former crack addict. Carr excels at sussing out the truth by prodding reluctant sources and—as in a meeting with Vice magazine execs—amusingly cutting through BS and canned responses. A one-man argument for the old-school journalistic methods now in jeopardy, Carr is seen throughout the film at panels and conferences defending the value of the Times and appearing somewhat bemused by his role.

The film is rounded out by archival footage of former editor Turner Catledge, as well as commentary from such observers as The New Yorker's David Remnick, Gawker's Nick Denton and WikiLeaks' Julian Assange. Times editor-in-chief Bill Keller appears on camera, owning up with surprising candor to the grim state of the news media and the Times' loss of authority when WikiLeaks can just flash the news on YouTube. Other Times-men interviewed appear equally uncertain about the fate of their own livelihood as the old models of profit-making are upset.

After such bracingly partisan docs as Charles Ferguson's Inside Job, some may find Rossi's approach overly respectful—Judith Miller is let off the hook too easily. (“My sources were wrong” is all she says, though another reporter remarks, “Judith Miller needed to be reined in.”) And the collage-like, nonlinear style echoes the short attention span of new media, perhaps unintentionally reflecting Carr's comment on the “cacophony of information out there.” But overall, Rossi brilliantly makes the case that despite the death watch on the Times, the paper continues to set the agenda and rigorous journalism is not only thriving but essential.

MIFF Gets the Scoop on Page One: Inside the New York Times

it’s not that people who live in Montclair actually think movie events held here can outshine the glitzy film premieres typically available in New York City, not at all.

That is not to say, however, that there wasn’t more than a glimmer of satisfaction when the Montclair International Film Festival upped the Big Apple with its exclusive screening of Magnolia Pictures’ documentary, Page One: Inside the New York Times, at the Bellevue Theatre on Monday night.

The event was superbly sweetened by the presence of Montclair residents David Carr and Jonathan Alter who were available for a post-film chat. Carr, a columnist for the New York Times, writes for the business section with his focus on media topics encompassing print, digital technology, film, radio and television. He plays a principal role in the film, which chronicles journalistic life at the grey lady, examines the impact of the digital revolution on what now might be called old-fashioned media, and ponders the Times’ future.

Alter, who interviewed Carr after the film was shown, writes a weekly column for Bloomberg View and is an analyst and contributing correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC. For 28 years, he worked at Newsweek with a long stint as senior editor. Alter is also an award-winning author. His 2010 book, The Promise, President Obama, Year One, was #4 on the New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller List and was one of the Times’ “Notable Books” of the year.

The documentary, directed, produced and shot by filmmaker Andrew Rossi and co-written by his wife, Kate Novack, was celebrated at the Sundance Film Festival in January. It will open at the Angelica Theater and the Lincoln Center Film Society’s Elinor Bunn Film Center on June 17. The 200 audience members who filled the Bellevue Theatre to capacity Monday evening can happily pocket the train or car fare they might have spent to see Page One in the city on it’s opening night there.

MIFF board member Evie Colbert got the evening started as she graciously made introductions for the event, thanking MIFF volunteers for their help. The lights then dimmed, and the journey into the world that’s given us “all the news that’s fit to print” began.

One of the first scenes in Page One is that of a truck with the Times' logo on it loaded up with newspapers. We then see a close-up of that familiar trademark. Anyone who has been nursed on the Times cannot help feeling a momentary sense of comfort: we are not, hopefully, looking at a symbol of the past… a vehicle filled with so many papers that people want to read. For a few seconds, we think that life is what it always was, that nothing has changed.

The film moves quickly into the present reality. We hear negative comments about major newspapers folding…”the obit columns are filled with the death of the American newspapers.”

As the film unfolds, it becomes apparent that the daily workings of the paper are not quite as important to the filmmakers as commentary on the changing status of traditional media.

News events are not presented in the order in which they really occurred. When Carr was asked why, he stated, “I don’t know what was in the filmmaker’s head. I think he wanted to get the larger picture.”

Carr is the star of the film. We can’t take our eyes off his off-beat presence: for much of it, he appears unshaven, dressed casually in slightly rumpled clothing. His voice has a raspy quality as he espouses his uncensored opinions. His demeanor makes it believable when he reveals that he's a former crack addict and a single parent who has raised two children. In the latter part of the film, he appears neat in semi-corporate attire. We get the point; the film is half over and we no longer need to be convinced that he was once a druggie. The openness with which Carr speaks about himself on screen is endearing and adds a sense of warmth to the hard subject of failing newspapers.

We watch some of the crackerjack reporters on staff: among them are Brian Stetler who was a blogger before he was hired by the paper, Tim Arango who became the Baghdad Bureau Chief, and top financial reporter, Andrew Ross Sorkin.

Through the commentary of media personalities such as New Yorker Magazine Editor-in-Chief David Remnick, investigative journalist Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame and Gawker founder Nick Denton, we gain additional perspectives on the state of media affairs.

Controversy over the way WikiLeaks operates is covered with input from it’s founder, Julian Assange. The relevance of Twitter is discussed. We see a staff meeting which covers the way the media and networks are reporting events. The challenges of the iPad to print media are touched upon. The Tribune bankruptcy is explored.

With all the threats to the way things were and aren’t anymore, Carr is positive about the Times’ ability to survive and blend with technology. He is a beacon of hope for the preservation of standards in news reportage.

In the post-film interview, Alter said he thought the film returned some of the lost romance to newspapers. Carr humorously responded, “It’s not ‘The Front Page.' There’s no women in it.” Alter pursued the exchange by asking Carr if the “romance” juxtaposed with the business aspect of what’s going on brings sadness to him. Carr was pleased to say that the paper’s financial position has improved. He said “ the pay wall seems to be gaining traction. It’s a daily struggle but it doesn’t feel (he made an exasperated sigh) as tragic."

Of working with filmmaker Rossi, Carr said, “originally the filmmaker was just about me.” Carr persuaded him not to just focus on him. “There was never a back-up (moment). “It was authentic, not acting.” It was important to Carr that the film didn’t look like a scripted television show. “While he (Rossi) was watching us, we were watching him. He knew what he was after, he was on things in a moment.”

Kudos to the MIFF for making the “Page One: Inside the New York Times” event happen. The film will officially open at Claridge Cinemas in Montclair on June 24.

HuffPost Review: Page One -- Inside the New York Times

There are, it seems, three schools of thinking when it comes to the New York Times.

There is, of course, the conservative view, which is that the Times is a left-wing house organ.

And there's the view of most of the rest of America -- which is that the Times exemplifies what journalism should be and is the most important newspaper in the world. That's also the NYT's view.

And then there are those of us who work in the media in New York, who see the Times as a paper that is necessary but far from perfect -- but one that maintains a grandiose sense of its own importance.

You get a little bit of all three in Page One -- Inside the New York Times, a documentary (opening in limited release Friday, 6/17/11) that uses what has become, by default, America's most important print media outlet to tell the story of the collapse of print media in the Internet age.

Director Andrew Rossi actually uses the Times' media desk as his point of entry. He spends time with reporters Brian Stelter, Tim Arango, Richard Perez-Pena and David Carr, as they cover stories and confer with their editor, Bruce Headlam. Though we see the Times in snow, rain and sunshine, there's not exactly a linear feel to the story telling.

Instead, Rossi does some fairly standard fly-on-the-wall filming in the Times, watching Carr, Stelter and others as they pursue various stories -- from early Wikileaks releases to Carr's huge takeout on the collapse of Tribune Corp.

Rossi also uses the ongoing story of the collapse and closure of several major American daily newspapers -- and the forced layoffs and buyouts at the Times itself -- to look at what has happened to newspapers in general. The Times has survived and even found a way to thrive -- but it has not been immune to the shift in newspaper reading and news-consumption habits of the American public.

While other newspapers -- in Seattle, Denver and elsewhere -- have gone belly up, the Times is confident of its own survival. Its biggest cheerleader in that regard is Carr, a pointedly eccentric presence in the film who is seen, on several occasions, arguing for not only the newspaper's ability to grow and shine -- but in his belief that this is a journalistic necessity in order to make the world a better place.

Stelter and Arango seem slightly intimidated and inhibited by the presence of a camera watching them as they do their jobs (though Stelter's shlubby appearance seems to counter notions of stiffness at the Great Gray Lady). Carr is the only one of the Timesmen who seems not only willing but eager to be the star of the film.

With his hunched posture, screechy-scratchy voice and aggressive personality, he's ready for his close-up -- though the clarity of the digital image does him no favors. He's also more than happy to share his sordid past as a one-time crack addict and jailbird who became a single father on welfare -- before turning his life around and becoming a New York Times star. He's already outlined it in detail in a memoir; no point in being shy now. 

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Hot New Film Asks: Is 'The New York Times' Worth Saving?

As he tells it, Rossi was actually developing another project for HBO on Web 2.0 and social media, “and everyone kept on saying that on the road to digital future there would be several major dead bodies on the side of the road.” When a controversial (and almost laughable) article by Michael Hirshorn predicted the death of The New York Times – in just months -- Rossi was filming a dinner party of web entrepreneurs and investors and, he told me this week, there “seemed to be this glee people were taking in the potential demise of the Times.”

A few weeks later, he interviewed Times media writer David Carr (left) for that project and their conversation “kept cycling back to the place of legacy media in a media future,” Rossi recalls. “David was very animated that people’s views of the future of The New York Times were misplaced,” especially since so many of the critics were, at the same time, fully aggregating material from the newspaper. Rossi concluded that even people who are investors or participants in new media “should not be cheering the demise of such an important source of news and analysis.”

Rossi switched gears, sensing (but not really knowing) that “commentary from new media was at odds with what was actually happening.” He determined “it would be very valuable to go in with an open mind and get a front row seat on what New York Times journalism is – is it wasteful or something of real value?” With a cinema verite approach he would “just capture what is going on there” right in the middle of what he calls the Gray Lady’s “collision” with the digital imperative, and let the chips fall where they may.

Carr, as it happens – as it was meant to happen – turned out to be the “star” of Rossi’s new project. In fact, in the early going he was even more of the focus, until Rossi broadened his focus to include three other key members of the Times’ media desk: editor Bruce Headlam and writers Brian Stelter and Tim Arango. (Among other things, we get to experience Stelter’s 90-pound weight loss and Arango’s surprising decision to leave the comforts of the new Times tower for Baghdad.) But Carr still gets most of the best scenes and lines, as he critiques, even while engaging, the online world.

The highlight: After enduring, on a panel, one of Michael Wolff’s withering assaults on the demise of Times, Carr holds up a printed screen shot of Wolff’s site, Newser, full of more holes than Swiss cheese – where Carr had cut out stories from the Times featured there. Then there’s his smackdown of the editors of Vice magazine– but I don’t want to ruin it for you. His overall view is best captured by his cry, “The Times has dozens of bureaus all over the world, but now we’ll kick back – and see what Facebook turns up!”

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