Prophet vs. Profit

In honor of Network's tension between the role of prophet and profit in television, I'm reminded of Kierkegaard, the famous Danish philosopher who was also a Christian. In the mid-1800s he wrote: "Suppose someone invented an instrument, a convenient little talking tube which, say, could be heard over the whole land . . . I wonder if the police would not forbid it, fearing that the whole country would become mentally deranged if it were used."

What's in a J-Mo?

Hollywood has a way of casting its entertaining light on a variety of issues and vocations, often shaping perceptions and attitudes in the broader culture. But when it comes to portraying the challenging and sometimes dangerous world of journalism, does Hollywood get it right? Do movies like the classic Citizen Kane (1941) or the contemporary story of Jeffrey Wigand in The Insider (1999) help or hinder the public perspective of journalism? Did reporters really act as tough as the characters in His Girl Friday (1940) or as ambitious as those in All the President’s Men (1976)? How do specific decades define the style of a film’s journalistic portrayal? How does a film made in the 1970s differ from one in the 1990s?