“This is why the future of media is an ever-increasing number of people sardonically commenting on an ever-decreasing amount of information. I see no reason to be optimistic.”Chuck Klosterman, interview with The Big Lead, today.
Well, here we are. Halfway through the penultimate season of The Wire, and, though this may in fact be the greatest show in television history (I know, I know, I’m shortchanging The Simpsons, and Cheers, and Newsradio), it’s simultaneously serving as another reminder of MFG’s four-season rule (Refresher: All shows peak only for four seasons in their existence – either bookended by or resulting in dramatic drop-offs).
Oh, sure, certain characters are still fascinating (Bunk, Omar, Prop Joe, Marlo, McNulty, Carver, Cutty), certain storylines still resonating profoundly – but some of what worked in the last few seasons is falling hopelessly flat. Sure, McNulty and Freamon‘s attempt to create a serial killer is farfetched – but is it really any more farfetched than Hamsterdam? It feels that way, and that permeates the entire fifth season. Rather than deep, encircling, futile character development – The Wire is attempting to build toward its crescendo, presumably tying up a lot of loose ends.
Which isn’t unsatisfying, to wit, but simply doesn’t feel quite right. And I hestitate to jump on the bandwagon of Wire-bashers during season 5, and the chorus of media either embarrassed or peeved at David Simon‘s newsroom portrayal, but, well, it is actually pretty lame, and it is, actually, pretty myopic. (Also, see here.) And he is, actually airing mostly dirty laundry, attempting to be profound rather than offering subtle commentary on society (Example: Schools, politics, rehabilitation, all in seasons past.). As a commentary on journalism, Simon has made no attempt either to disguise his rage with the medium, Baltimore Sun, or his pessimism. And it really drags the show down – each journalism scene reeks with Simon’s bitter notions that back-in-the-day was better. You know, like any discussion with every baby boomer you’ve ever met.
As a former staffer for The News-Times (Danbury, Conn.), and The Kansas City Star, I actually really enjoy a lot of the nuances of The Wire’s newsroom portrayals. The copy editors obsessing over “evacuated.” The shout-over-printers “budget meetings.” The constant wanderlust of young staffers, knowing career ladders in newsprint mean hopping ’round the country. A late-night copy-editing attack, doubting a correction made? Those happen. (Once, I was cut loose before the metro edition, sent home at midnight, only to drive 45 minutes in return, well past the slot editor’s deadline of 2 a.m. to doublecheck a headline. Which had been correct.)
The profanity, the needling, the camaraderie – inside an incubator of cubicles, no profession can hope to match the opinionated, collegial, atmosphere of a newsroom. At times, journalism is the most invigorating job on the planet. At other times, it’s the most mundane, frustrating, or tedious. And the interplay between several staffers captures that – the profession is fast, eager, energetic at its best. That’s why we kids are here. That’s why grizzled, bitter beat writers hate them, I suppose. Talk about elitism.
However, it’s the overarching theme which really harms The Wire. Certainly people in media or elsewhere often express fatalism or fret over the future of newspapers in this country, or journalism in general, similar to Chuck Klosterman in his quote above. And sure, the partisan nature of everything, the rush to judgment in everything from sports to music ot politics can be harmful.
But the “decline” in newspapers, presented by Simon in season five? Well, it’s a little insulting. Certainly, budget cuts and media conglomerations are a problem. But are they really presented in the good vs. evil cardboard cutouts as exist in The Wire‘s Sun? Certainly, a degree of cardboard characterism is necessary for a good portion of viewing public who do not live in a newsroom – but man, is it frustrating. The choreographed lectures, by suits exhorting reporters to do “more with less,” well, that’s a little blunt.
The newsroom dismissals of young reporters – Pendleton makes up quotes (Please. How tired is this storyline The fuck is this? Ripped from the headlines Law & Order?), Alma can’t quite get her head on straight, both of them want to leave, and the bought-out cop reporter can still scoop either of them with a phone call – please.
The biggest problem in newspapers today is not the advance of the internet, not the growth of television or radio, not the speed of the news cycle – it is jaded, old, dinosaurs who have no interest in changing or morphing with the times. Indeed, the internet should prompt more investigative reporting. Harsher and quicker opinions. More, thorough, easier backgrounding. An even more well-read investigating reporting corps. It does not forbid any of these things.
Yet old staffers, created by Simon as Gus, Twigg, etc. – they yearn for days of rotary dialing, sitting through board meetings, the painstaking craft of all news created on a beat cycle.
Well, those days are no more. I know many journalists – and they are almost to a fault the most passionate, opinionated, yet ethical people I’ve met. The profession and obsession hasn’t fallen by the wayside – and in many newsrooms today, there are legions of young writers endeavoring to make their marks, yet knowing the avenue to do so is through tireless phone calls, blogging, or deep, profound investigative stories. Often, what holds them back is not media conglomeration – but instead is status quo dinosaurs, assuming newsgathering and news packaging shouldn’t need to advance beyond the Times Roman and gray-lady fonts of the 1970s, and who discourage, dismiss, distrust, and shout down the young voices of newspaper reporters.
Simon himself doesn’t help things with the portrayal of the green Alma and the shady Templeton. He pays no heed to Internet advancement at all, as espoused in Slate’s excellent Wire reaction, there is no blogging, no web browsing, no nothing on the windows of The Sun’s computer screen. And, as remembered by Slate, Alma doesn’t fucking go to her web site to see her story – instead she drives all over town to find the first edition on a newsstand. A little bit preposterous, a lot shortsighted.
Certainly, there are many problems in media. Opinions, shouting, lines blurred in ethical ownership, job cuts and profit-mongering. However, in a profession as profound and exposed as journalism, haven’t these always existed? Maybe, just maybe with more news, media, and investigative coverage of everything – maybe we just know more about it.
There are good reporters and bad reporters, just as in Simon‘s apparent halcyon memories, shockingly. Nothing has changed, but everything has. Journalism itself remains an art, a profession, and a craft treated with respect by thousands of twentysomethings, young reporters, investigative powerhouses and even courthouse beat writers, nationwide.
Maybe I’m an optimist. (How many times have I ever said that?) Anyway, as a former editor, I don’t feel as though the profession is doomed. Instead, I look at the volumes of media on the net, I look at the intelligent discussion in thousands of blogs, I look at the speed at which we can digest news, and I look at the advent of more investigative reporting, not less (To wit: The NY Times, NY Magazine, The SF Chronicle, and the Seattle P-I), and I’m optimistic. Opinions and shoddy commentary always suck, they’re always a problem, just as jaded, bitter has-beens, and contemptuous self-important newbies are as well. The obstacles to reporting, writing, editing, and designing still exist, either in cyberspace, QuarkXPress, InDesign, cell phones, pay phones, lectures, or interviews. The difference is what we hold on to, figuratively, passively, and literally.
So, what, really, is changing?
(And, as a postscript, certain portions of season five are really fucking good. Marlo. Bunk. Carcetti. Daniels. Clay Davis. CARVER. And more. But, you know, I’m fairly young, so I bitch on my blog – in an attempt to paint myself as a journalist, even though a blog purports not to be reporting, or encroach upon journalism, in ALMOST EVERY CIRCLE OF BLOGGING KNOWN TO MAN. Quick, someone hand me a Pall Mall, a fried doughnut, and send me to a schoolboard meeting. It’s the only way we youngsters will learn.)
- The Big Lead, Mexican Death Metal, La Bamba, and Sunkist: An Interview with Chuck Klosterman., Jan. 28, 2008. (The Big Lead)
- David Simon, Does The News Matter to Anyone Anymore?, Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008, B01, (The Washington Post)
- Sara Libby, I’ve Got News for You, David Simon., Wed., Jan. 23, 2008. (The Washington Post)
- Jeffrey Goldberg, David Plotz & John Swansburg, TV Club: The Wire Final Season Discussion. (Slate)
- Big Daddy Drew, The Super Bowl Bye Week Jamboroo, In Which Drew Pauses to Make a Serious Point About Blogging…, Jan. 24, 2008. (Deadspin).
Whereas the characters of Valchek, Rawls and Burrell don’t indicate any strong feelings by Ed Burns about the people he worked for in the police department. Yeah, those were subtle characterizations.
If police officials, mayors, longshoremen and school administrators blogged and whined, what would the first four seasons be in your mind?
Good point. Like I said, anyone connected to the media whines because, well, we’re good at it.
Waiting to post my follow-up thoughts till Monday by the way (on my post, not the comment), till after this week’s On Demand (ep. 5) runs on Sunday.