There has long been a tension in perceptions about news media - namely, about the line between journalistic reporting of the news and the penchant for possibly helping create the news. From William Randolph Heart's infamous boasts that if a photographer supplied the pictures, he'd supply the war to the jaded journalists of Billy Wilder's grimly sardonic Ace in the Hole, we see the fermentation of the so-called "media circus" which often seems to not only report, but actually push, the development of what we so prosaically call "the news." Modern tales of journalistic plagarism and fabrication, including Jayson Blair's involvement with the New York Times , have likewise pulled back the facade on our "fourth estate," offering whiffs of personal corruption and creating the idea that "journalistic ethics" are often an elusive mirage.
In Wilder's film (one of the more often underappreciated films in a lengthy career that includes classics such as Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Some Like it Hot, and The Apartment), a down-on-his luck reporter working for a small New Mexico newspaper manages to get a major scoop in the form of a man trapped in a mine. The reporter essentially takes over the rescue effort, in the process prolonging it in order to continue feeding stories to the national press and thereby making a "name" for himself. For the reporter, the man's life is essentially inconsequential; what becomes important is the story, and what it can offer him.
Margaret Truman's latest "Capital Crimes" novel tracks a similar tale in a contemporary setting. Joe Wilcox is a reporter for the fictional Washington Tribune. His career is stalled and he's going nowhere fast. After two young women, one of whom worked for the Tribune, are brutally murdered, Wilcox decides to take advantage of emerging speculation that a serial killer might be involved. He hopes to rescusitate his career on the basis of a story he himself has a hand in creating.
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Article comments
1 - Nancy
Shades of Bob Woodward, Robert Novak, Judith Miller, & a host of others!
2 - BIll Wallo
I think that might depend upon one's perspective of the Woodward/Novak/Miller thing. They certainly found themselves at the center of a story; it doesn't appear that they manufactured or falsified anything in order to make a name for themselves.
3 - Nancy
They didn't cooperate with Fitzgerald, & in Woodward's case, didn't tell anyone - including the Post - they actually had extensive testimony pertaining to the case, in order to further their own personal interests; so in a very strong sense, they 'led' circumstances along for the purposes of self-aggrandizement.
4 - vikk
Another well-thought out review. Thanks!