The Movie Project

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Hollywood, Society & the Press

Project Goal: To analyze how journalism and its role in American society are depicted in Hollywood film. Over time, journalists have been seen as scoundrels, drunkards, meglomaniacs, crusaders, liars and war heroes—among other things. With this project we study the journalist’s social role while also examining their impact, principles and influence. The movies on the list below are both historical and fictional, yet they all contain lessons—good and bad—about journalism and society.

Discussion: As we have discussed (remember Mass Comm Theories?), creators of media messages select and omit certain facts, even when when reporting real events; this is not always intentional, although it can be (was Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941) really such a twisted meglomaniac?). But as you recall about the principles of selective perception, we all see and understand the world differently, which means that well-intentioned and professional people also frame the world in ways that correspond to what they think is important. In that way, movies—like all media messages—can serve as social agenda-setters, helping moviegoers “see” journalists and journalism in certain ways, and to put press issues on society’s agenda (media can’t tell us what to think, but are stunningly successful in telling us what to think about).

Movies also serve as vehicles—again, intentional or not—to express certain perspectives and to make ideological statements. Citizen Kane surely did that about ambition and the corrupting influence of power, but other examples abound:
• Outfoxed (2004), a “documentary” about Fox News that will raise your blood pressure (no matter how you feel about Fox) and curl your hair—“fair and balanced” my @#$%^&^%$#!!
• Network (1976)—With the amazing Peter Finch, an indictment of TV and modern couch-potatoes.
• Superman (various)—Is Clark really that much of a do-gooding dork?
• Good Night, and Good Luck (2005—Makes me proud to be a journalist.
• It Happened One Night (1934)—As the Week8 readings suggested, this great romance showed moviegoers how a gentleman and lady should act....part of the conservative reaction against Hollywood “immorality” in the 1930s.
etc.

The Assignment:
1. Pick a film from the list below. Clear it with Dr. Ted by Monday, Nov. 8. Watch it (with your friends and family?), and analyze it on a number of levels:
• If it’s a fact-based film, check its historical accuracy: compare the film version to historical accounts and news stories in The New York Times & other news sources.
• How it reflects the role of the press/journalists in society.
• How it reflects the impact of the journalist on society and other social institutions.
• Use the mass comm theories to aid in your analysis of what kinds of things the film does.
2. Analyze the movie and identify its major themes/ frames, comparing them to historical facts (if the movie is about a real person/event) or, if it’s not, to your understanding of the role of a free and responsible press. How do the movie “facts” privilege or distort the historical record? How does the film conform to your understanding of socially responsible and ethical journalism? (see the Hutchins Commission materials and various codes of ethics and principles of honest journalism). NOTE: Even if a film is not strictly historical—His Girl Friday or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, for instance—it does reflect a particular time and set of contemporary events. Find out what was going on at the time, in what events or trends or social attitudes was the film created and situated? (Like the It Happened One Night, for example.) How was the event and/or person or the times framed in historical accounts or The New York Times? What issues related to media ethics can you relate to the Times’ construction of reality?
3. Do the film narratives work to privilege (support) or to challenge the dominant ideologies underlying American society of the time?
4. What issues related to media ethics can you relate to the film’s construction of reality?
5. How does your film frame/portray journalists and journalism? How does it make you feel about the press and the press role in society? (Can you relate the journalist’s behavior/performance to the Hutchins recommendations, for example?) What is the journalist’s ethical behavior (relate to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics and related materials; see Folkerts et al. Ch. 13.)

The Essay: Write a 5-pp. analytical paper about your movie, and addressing the issues above. (See Essay Guidelines.) Include complete bibliographic sources used to confirm the historical record. (Note: Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable nor a reliable source.)

Deadline: Nov. 29, 2010

Some Tips:
Your goal is to analyze the film in terms of how the historical events, issues and people are represented, not simply to do a plot summary. Using online sources is fine, providing the sources are reliable. (Like Wikipedia, blogs are not always reliable sources of factual information—check your sources!) Preferred sources: newspapers, news magazines, academic articles or books, film reviews from reliable news sources (e.g., New York Times). FYI: The New York Times Historical database is available online through the library and includes all articles published by the Times. Also, every Time magazine article and cover since its first publication in 1927 are available. Click here for research tips.

Other things you might want to think about: 1. Search for historical information about the contemporary events (or the era) and people (if possible) depicted in the movies. Identify the differences between the historical and film versions.
2. What are the journalistic ethical issues in the film? How would the journalists in the movie be “graded” on the SPJ Code of Ethics? How on the Hutchins Commission goals for a free & responsible press?
3. Could the director have portrayed the contemporary (or historical) events and people in a more responsible way? How and why?
4. What themes, characters, elements of the film provided new insight, challenged your way of looking at the issues raised by the film?
5. Use specific examples from the film to illustrate your major arguments and conclusions.
6. Can you relate the principles of media literacy and media effects theories to the films? How? Be specific.

A Caveat: Many Hollywood films may use language, violence, decpittions, etc., that you may find offensive; about 70 percent of Hollywood films are R-rated (From the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA): “A motion picture’s single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words [e.g. the “F” word], though only as an expletive, initially requires at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive requires an R rating, if even one of those words is used in a sexual context.” Click here for additional information on the MPAA rating system.)

Films: Below is a list of films that fit the criteria for this assignment:
1) They all deal with journalism; may or may not be based on an actual event or person;
2) They all deal with an important contemporary social issue or
3) . . . focus on issues related to journalism/journalism ethics. (Plot summaries adapted from The Internet Movie Database, Rotten Tomatoes, MetaCritic and other sources.)
4) Because this is a journalism class, I urge you to keep this list, watch ALL these films sometime, and let me know when you find other ones you like. These lists abound: Here’s another one at a journalism training site.

Pick one of these and tell Dr. Ted which one you want ASAP.
• Absence of Malice (1981) (PG). Fiction account of ambitious reporter Sally Field and her ethical lapses in pursuing the story of a shady Paul Newman. A standard for ethics class.
• All the King’s Men (2006). Based on the Robert Penn Warren novel. The life of populist Southerner Willie Stark, a political creature loosely based on Governor Huey Long of Louisiana. PG-13
• All the President’s Men (1976). Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Nixon’s resignation. PG
• Born on the Fourth of July (1989). The biography of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), who was paralyzed in the Vietnam war, and becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist. For this option, examine coverage of the Vietnam war in The New York Times and compare to the narrative story in Born on the Fourth of July and the actual events of the conflict. R for war violence, language.
• Broadcast News (1987) (R) James L. Brooks’ quirky romantic comedy about life in a big-town TV newsroom; William Hurt, Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks.
• Capote (2006) Based on writer Truman Capote during research for his (excellent) book In Cold Blood, an account of the murder of a Kansas family. Capote develops a close relationship with Perry Smith, one of the killers, and struggles with the conflict of balancing getting his story and journalistic ethics. R for some violent images, brief strong language. Others: Infamous (2006)
• Citizen Kane (1941) (PG). About a power-hungry newspaper publisher with delusions of grandeur. Considered by many the best movie ever.
• Cry Freedom (1987). South African journalist Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) is forced to flee the country after attempting to investigate the death in custody of his friend the black activist Steve Biko (Denzel Washington). NR, British
• The Front Page (1974) (PG). Classic newspaper yarn: Hildy Johnson is the top reporter on a Chicago newspaper during the 1920s. Tired of the whole game he's determined to quit his job to get married. Walter Matthau, Jack Lemon, Susan Sarandon, Carol Burnett.
• Frost-Nixon (2008) A dramatic retelling of the famous post-Watergate television interview by British celeb host David Frost w/ former President Richard Nixon; his mea culpa. Frank Langella and Michael Sheen. G
• Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) Edward R. Murrow and CBS decide to take a stand against Sen. Joe McCarthy’s unethical tactics during the 1950s Red Scare. The Edward R. Murrow story, starring David Strathairn and George Clooney. PG
• His Girl Friday (1940) (G) A newspaper editor (Cary Grant) uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife (Rosalind Russell) from remarrying.
• Inherit the Wind (1960) An account of a real-life 1925 case in which two great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution. G
• The Insider (1999) Research chemist decides to blow the whistle on Big Tobacco and appear in a “60 Minutes” segment. Russell Crowe, Dustin Hoffman. R for language
• The Killing Fields (1984) Based on the experiences of New York Times reporter, Sydney Schanberg, and his coverage the 1970s civil war in Cambodia. R for graphic war violence & language
• Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism (2004) (PG). Documentary on reported conservative bias of Fox News, which promotes itself as “fair and balanced.” Interviews with former FNC employees and the inter-office memos they provided.
• Network (1994) (R for language, sex). A TV network cynically exploits a deranged ex-TV anchor's ravings and revelations about the media for their own profit. Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch.
• The Paper (1994) (R). Henry Hackett is the editor of a New York City tabloid. He is a workaholic who loves his job, but the long hours and low pay are leading to discontent. Michael Keaton, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei.
• Shattered Glass (2003) The true story of a young journalist who fell from grace when it was found he had fabricated over half of his articles. PG-13 for language.
• Teacher’s Pet (1958) (G) James Gannon (Clark Gable), the hardboiled city editor of a newspaper, believes that the only way to learn the business is by way of the School of Hard Knocks, and has a very low regard for college-taught journalism, so he's not pleased when his managing editor orders him to help Erica Stone (Doris Day), a college professor.
• Veronica Guerin (2003) Based on the story of the Irish journalist who is assassinated by the drug dealers she wrote about in her news stories. R for violence & language
• Wag the Dog (1994) (R for language). Funny and cutting. Before elections, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover-up a presidential sex scandal. Dustin Hoffman, Robert DiNiro, Anne Heche, Willy Nelson, Woody Harrelson.

Some films are available in USU Merrill-Cazier Library, Media Collections.
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