Blogging By Cinema-light: Don't Make a Scene: Broadcast News

Sunday, July 18, 2021

Don't Make a Scene: Broadcast News

The Story: It's been a tough time for the news business. The internet has dried up the source-revenue of classified ads for newspapers, and broadcast news outlets have to compete with 24-hour-a-day news channels that scroll headlines if the President gets a hang-nail. Then, there's the clowns and bone-heads bleating about "fake news" whenever it's a story that they don't like or doesn't fawn enough—it was ever thus—or if it conflicts with their own lies or junk headlines.

So, it's tough—tougher—to make a living trying to get substantial information float above the swill of opinions or advertising posing as news. And as revenues drop, so do staff, whether they group tries to hang in there, or whether it gets bought up by a conglomerate, who then take even more draconian measures to please investors or themselves. And when costs get cut, it's usually the lower-paid staff who are let go, because it's so much "easier" to cut costs in little dribs and drabs than to drop any higher-paid management—which always makes business sense. "Penny-wise..."

This scene from Broadcast News came to mind with all the "Tax the Rich" talk that's been going on. In it, Jack Nicholson's high-profile news anchor pays a visit to "the trenches" to buck up morale on the day a big lay-off happens. And as Dave Barry once wrote: "You can tell it's bad news when the network anchor has his frowny-face on." Nicholson had just won his second Oscar for Brooks' Terms of Endearment and paid it back by agreeing to be in what is essentially a cameo roll—for no money (he was about to get a big pay-out playing The Joker in 1989's Batman and was prepping The Two Jakes, the long-anticipated sequel to Chinatown, at the time). And his reaction to the news exec's little quip is full of (what the script describes as) "grace and dignity." And more than a little dismissal. At least, he didn't start a diatribe about "destroying capitalism" and "creeping Socialism." Nicholson's Jake Gittes would ask "...how much better could you eat?..."

Meanwhile, the less-prestigious workers have to display the same "grace and dignity" while they have their worlds turned upside-down.

My reaction would be more like the newsie who responds to Paul's regretful sentiment of "If there's ANY-thing I can do..." with "Well...you could DIE soon..."

The Set-up: The Network is cutting back news-jobs today, and the National Anchorman Bill Rorish (Jack Nicholson) has come back to show his support. Network Exec Paul Moore (Peter Hackes) escorts him through his old haunts.

5, 4, 3, 2,...

116 INT. NEWSROOM - DAY

BILL ...be my pleasure...

116 Paul arriving with Bill Rorish. The first time we have seen the multi-millionaire anchorman in the flesh. He has the grace and dignity of a man who spends every waking moment working on grace and dignity. He and Paul are in the midst of an important conversation -- muted and ominous.