2008 Woodie Awards
'The Paper' does not do journalism justice
Andy Harper
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Opinions
"Journalists are the most important part of the world."
At least we are according to Amanda Lorber, editor in chief of the Cypress Bay High School newspaper The Circuit. Amanda and her staff are the new focus of MTV's "The Paper," a reality show about life in a newsroom.
There's only one problem: it isn't a newsroom; it's a high school class. No self-respecting newspaper would allow any external media to chronicle the unimportant, uninteresting and irrelevant events that transpire within their work area.
Journalists exist to relay the news. Obviously, dramatic antics will pop up every now and again, but these scenarios exist in any working environment. The only important and noteworthy thing about a newspaper and its staff is the final product placed on the stands.
With this in mind, The Circuit staff forgot one of the most basic rules of our industry - we are not the story. Journalists don't exist to be the stars of a reality show; we exist to deliver strong, factual, entertaining and interesting news to our audience.
It's already difficult enough to be a doctor or lawyer with shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Law and Order." People develop a disillusioned view of these careers and expect every ER doctor to be sleeping with a nurse and every lawyer to have high profile murder cases.
Hopefully, the general audience for these shows can tell the difference between reality and fantasy, but it still warps the perceptions of these career fields. We begin to expect certain actions and events from doctors, nurses, police officers and even journalists. Because of this, industries that should be held in high respect are reduced to primetime soaps.
The unfortunate staff of The Circuit has entered itself into the worst genre of television possible, because everyone loses in a reality show.
Most of these journalistic-hopefuls screwed their careers in the very first episode. After their last issue under the "old" editor in chief, the staff celebrated with a house party that included a game involving ping-pong balls, red plastic cups and a mysterious unseen liquid. Two of the show's characters, Trevor Ballard and Giana Pacinelli, sneaked upstairs for some "alone" time.
At least we are according to Amanda Lorber, editor in chief of the Cypress Bay High School newspaper The Circuit. Amanda and her staff are the new focus of MTV's "The Paper," a reality show about life in a newsroom.
There's only one problem: it isn't a newsroom; it's a high school class. No self-respecting newspaper would allow any external media to chronicle the unimportant, uninteresting and irrelevant events that transpire within their work area.
Journalists exist to relay the news. Obviously, dramatic antics will pop up every now and again, but these scenarios exist in any working environment. The only important and noteworthy thing about a newspaper and its staff is the final product placed on the stands.
With this in mind, The Circuit staff forgot one of the most basic rules of our industry - we are not the story. Journalists don't exist to be the stars of a reality show; we exist to deliver strong, factual, entertaining and interesting news to our audience.
It's already difficult enough to be a doctor or lawyer with shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Law and Order." People develop a disillusioned view of these careers and expect every ER doctor to be sleeping with a nurse and every lawyer to have high profile murder cases.
Hopefully, the general audience for these shows can tell the difference between reality and fantasy, but it still warps the perceptions of these career fields. We begin to expect certain actions and events from doctors, nurses, police officers and even journalists. Because of this, industries that should be held in high respect are reduced to primetime soaps.
The unfortunate staff of The Circuit has entered itself into the worst genre of television possible, because everyone loses in a reality show.
Most of these journalistic-hopefuls screwed their careers in the very first episode. After their last issue under the "old" editor in chief, the staff celebrated with a house party that included a game involving ping-pong balls, red plastic cups and a mysterious unseen liquid. Two of the show's characters, Trevor Ballard and Giana Pacinelli, sneaked upstairs for some "alone" time.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 11
SO WHAT...
posted 4/21/08 @ 10:39 AM CST
Have you seen the show "Greek" either? Do you think it does the whole greek community justice? Surprise, surprise... Something on TV grossly misrepresents something. (Continued…)
mike hudson
posted 4/21/08 @ 1:46 PM CST
Is this column a put-on? Is Andy Harper doing comedy here? The "prized processions" zinger at the end was priceless.
Daniel Bridges
posted 4/21/08 @ 2:17 PM CST
I feel like I'm wasting my time even by responding to this article (I haven't read but a few sentences from it.)
It's TELEVISION. Not only that, but it's MTV. (Continued…)
Neil Reisner
posted 4/21/08 @ 2:34 PM CST
Actually, a self-respecting newsroom -- if The Miami Herald so counts -- did allow "external media to chronicle the unimportant, uninteresting and irrelevant events that transpire within their work area. (Continued…)
Editor B
posted 4/21/08 @ 2:47 PM CST
Oh Andy, when will you learn to balance guilty pleasures - like reality TV - with professional life as a journalist? In today's world, I highly doubt any of the students sandbagged their careers because their high school student newspaper is a feature for a reality show. (Continued…)
Hannah
posted 4/21/08 @ 2:52 PM CST
Come on, they're in high school! And on MTV! Did you expect any better? Of course the kids are going to be ridiculous ? they're privileged teenagers on a reality show. (Continued…)
Oh Dear
posted 4/21/08 @ 4:17 PM CST
This is from a working journalist: you need to relax. You'll need it in the long run. Also, be careful. Newspapers loathe pompous pricks only a little less than they do immature children. (Continued…)
Matthew
posted 4/21/08 @ 7:21 PM CST
Does anyone here remember when the M in MTV stood for music? Do they still show any videos on it anymore? I don't cout TRL because they only show teenage dipshits shitting themselves because carson is going to play a 45 sec clip of the new video from brittney spears. (Continued…)
Michael S.
posted 4/22/08 @ 3:54 PM CST
As a veteran EIC of both my high school paper AND literary magazine, I can fairly confidently say...that none of this will matter much for the future of journalism -- and probably not for the future employment of those featured on the show. (Continued…)
Jamal R.
posted 4/22/08 @ 5:53 PM CST
Andy, this is awesome! I smiled broadly while reading this because though I saw The Paper as some kind of entertainment, I agree with you completely. I agree with whoever said that this is television so you can't take it at face value, but your article had plenty of merit for me. (Continued…)
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