This week we discussed news and recent trends of news being subjective instead of objective. In the screening of two episodes of The Newsroom, one major theme follows the plot of the show. It is the idea that news in the modern era has become extremely bipartisan, and the protagonists of the show are striving to combat this trend by reporting the news as an objective item. They want to allow the audience to create their own opinions about events happening in the world. The main character Will McAvoy is the main anchor for the show and believes his viewers are not complete mouth breathers that must be told exactly what to think. 

Conflict arises in the second episode when the team decides not to report on the Casey Anthony Case. They believe the case is not worth reporting on because it replicates basic television drama. As a result, they end up losing half of their audience to a Nancy Grace show that did report the Casey Anthony Case. The team decides that because of this decline in the audience they must report on the controversial case within the next week. This creates a problem that all newscasts face. Whether they should focus on reporting stories that their audience is interested in seeing, or whether they should report on stories and issues that they believe are important for their audience to be informed on. 

Overall, I believe The Newsroom is successful in terms of presenting issues that impact the current way we ingest current events. In the first episode, Will is criticized during an interview for not taking a political stance as a news anchor. After being taunted about this, he finally blows up and chastises other news anchors for voicing their political affiliations. He believes that current events should not be reported with a liberal or conservative spin on the content, for this could alter how an audience ingests the information given to them. 

Today, we are given the illusion of choice when it comes to entertainment options. Entertainment corporations such as Disney, Viacom, and Time Warner have consolidated all media into massive media monopolies. In fact, there are only six major corporations that are currently in control of the industry. As opposed to thirty years ago when there where approximately fifty companies involved in the industry. This move towards massive conglomerates creates little to no competition in the industry. It also means that all of our information and entertainment comes from only five or six giant corporations. However, these massive conglomerates are not just a one-sided evil villain. Their massive size means they need to produce more content than ever. This creates an opportunity for jobs in all aspects of production. From directing to costume design there is a demand for workers in this field. As easy as it is to become pissed off by a mass take over of corporations, at least I can rest easy knowing that this is the best time for post-college graduates to enter the entertainment field.