Saturday, October 13, 2018
Celluloid Newspapers
We have seen two films, His Girl Friday and Citizen Kane, in which the protagonists work in the newspapers business (Walter Burns is an editor, Hildy Johnson a reporter, Charles Foster Kane a publisher). What do these films tell us about the job of a reporter or publisher in the 1940's? What is the role or status of the newspaper at that time? How have things changed since that time?
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The job of a reporter sure had a completely different touch back in the 1940s. In our modern society, knowledge about what was going on in the world – political and geographical events – are available everyone on the internet or on paper everywhere. Around 70 years ago, this knowledge was a privilege, there were newspapers at that time, but they were much more centralized on specific (maybe even irrelevant or gossip-like) topics. They were written by people who maybe twisted the truth a bit to express their own opinions. This can be seen in His Girl Friday where the reporters simply make up stories to make them sound more interesting. The only group of people getting the raw, unedited information are the reporters, which makes it easier for them to get a view of the worlds situation and to form a strong character. They are also skilled in speaking and expressing their own opinion or arguing, which makes them more powerful and respectable in society and also lets them appear more educated. All those attributes contribute to our main characters being successful and respected in their society, which is clearly visible in both of the movies. In today’s time, the job of an editor or reporter is nothing special, as there are many news agencies and the truth can’t be hidden or changed by news. Still, the news regulate peoples opinion and give us valuable information about what is going on in the world, which is why reporters even go into war zones just to let the audience know how things change. Through the establishment of the internet, the role of news has changed a lot, but it has not lost any of its worth.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching both His girl Friday and Citizen Kane it is apparent that the job of a reporter or publisher in the 1940’s was very important. Not only this, but it seemed that the job influenced individuals to become selfish and develop large egos. In particular, the male reporters in His Girl Friday were very indifferent to the opinions and problems of others. They typically only cared about getting the newest and sometimes most harsh news stories. The reporters were into the job for themselves and did not necessarily care about the conditions of others. The film gave off the idea that reporters thought of themselves as higher than the average citizen. This was also true of Charles Foster Kane. After he succeeded in the newspaper industry he became very haughty and egotistical. He was solely invested in the success of The Inquirer and even drifted apart from his first wife. Success in this industry was much more popular and important in the 1940’s. This is because the World Wide Web was non-existent at the time and citizens depended on the newspaper for current news. Now, anyone can just look up the news on the internet without having to pay for a physical paper. The newspaper was an important industry but reporters arranged their whole lives around it. Both films portray the idea that those who worked on the newspaper were not typically liked by the public. Whether that is because the public was treated as lesser by reporters/publishers or just because those in the industry had a large ego. Kane became very obsessed with himself and used those around him. Overall, even though the newspaper was important it corrupted those who worked on it.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1940's, the most widespread, accessible form of entertainment and information was the newspaper. Whatever was printed in the news was what was held as the truth. His Girl Friday focused more on the idea of newspaper used for amusement. The movie critiqued the idea that the news can be misconstrued in order to make a story crazier and sell more copies. For example, when it is discovered that a fugitive has been hiding out in the newspaper room, there are about ten different fake news stories coming from the reporters in the same room. This was demonstrating how untrustworthy the newspaper is since stories are always embellished to be more entertaining. In contrast, Citizen Kane, demonstrates the sheer power that the newspaper business has on the public’s opinion. For example, Kane used his newspaper empire to drag the US into the Spanish-American war. Unlike His Girl Friday, Citizen Kane embellished stories not for entertainment value but rather for his own political gain. The newspaper business controlled society’s views since it chose what information they knew and what was withheld from the public eye. In fact, Kane even used the newspaper to share positive reviews of his wife’s performances and withhold all negative comments that people were truly thinking. Both movies demonstrate how common fake news is. Movies that expose the ill intentions behind the media like these help feed into today’s society constant belief that all news that they don’t agree with is fake news. However, it shows that in all time periods Americans have not been able to fully trust the media.
ReplyDeleteThe entire newspaper industry is one of quiet variety and lots of questionability. At the time of the release of this movie, there was almost no other way of getting news. It was either from newspaper, radio, or going to your local movie theater to see how we were dealing with our little socialist friends over in Europe. Putting into account His Girl Friday, the job of being a newspaper reporter was hard. You had to be right there when something happened to get it on the front page the next morning and to have the accreditation for writing that article. They are like maggots crawling onto a dead body when rigor mortis sets in. It is somewhat of a different story for Kane because he did more of the overseeing duties rather than doing the down and dirty work of writing the stories for his front page. With Kane being the publisher, in his own world, he has all the power to send whatever he wants out to the readers of the Inquirer. He has this shared quality with his inspiration, William Randolph Hearst, who was essentially the pioneer of yellow journalism. Yellow journalism was a practice done by ruthless newspaper publishers to push barely researched and somewhat fictional story that caught the eye of the reader. This would make the distributor a lot of money because papers would be flying out of the presses. We see this today in such places at the National Inquirer and TMZ. Most of the mainstream use of this practice has been vetted out by fake news etc. Talking about this, you can see how the power of having thousands of people reading whatever you want at the push of a button can do to someone. You truly have to be morally sound to be a good publisher.
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ReplyDeleteIn our capitalist-driven society, the newspaper business is influenced by moneymaking schemes, which do not involve good reporting. Shown in “His Girl Friday”, each newspaper firm battled for circulation throughout the competitive landscape of New York City media in and many would fall into the loop of making exaggerations or eye-catching headlines with little legitimate information. In “Citizen Kane”, Charles Foster Kane runs his own newspaper firm called “The Inquirer”. Seeking professional power, he is comfortable with over-dramatizing events to the point that he challenges the decisions of the president. During the montage scene, he discusses one of his recent headlines regarding attacking the president’s decisions in the oil scandal. Throughout these two films, reporters are reflected as lying and corrupt through yellow journalism.
ReplyDeleteIn “His Girl Friday”, Walter and Hildy go to extremes at creating their own story. Rather than reporting observations in the news, they influence the events of the Earl Williams chase by hiding him in a desk. This is a prime example of yellow journalism, lying and exaggerating to create news that is more interesting. “His Girl Friday” emphasizes these traits through countless other examples of yellow journalism in the film. Reporters are shown lying to the press, ignoring Mollie Malloy, and influencing their own stories.
In “Citizen Kane”, Kane is supposed to represent the corrupt reporter through his involvement in the Spanish-American war. During this period in our actual history books, yellow journalism was extremely prominent. The “USS Maine” is an actual event of lying in the media, used to direct the blame of a sunken ship towards the Spanish. Headlines like these instigated the entire conflict. A direct parallel is shown through Kane, as he engages in similar journalistic practices. Interested in promoting “The Inquirer”, he is willing to do anything for good press, stating, “If the headline is big enough, it makes the news big enough”.
While both films clearly show corruption in the reporting styles from a century ago, it is critical that we maintain their differences. “His Girl Friday” depicts 1940s reporters as lying. “Citizen Kane” however addresses reporters from an alternate time. As the Spanish American war is pressing in the media, these events occurred in 1898. Therefore, we cannot directly compare what the two films say on reporters, as they are referencing different eras of reporting. Nonetheless, the common these is still yellow journalism. However, “Citizen Kane” creates extra inferences of these reporters from 1898. Throughout the film, Kane’s need for power is spurred from his childhood dynamic. Lacking a comforting environment, as he is raised without the nurture of his mother, we conclude that his abusive mentality is his postponed childhood attitude. In the parallel between “The Inquirer” and reporters during 1898, specifically those of the “USS Maine”, we observe that the film makes the same conclusions on reporters of 1898: that they are childish and immature.
In both "Citizen Kane" and "His Girl Friday" the protagonists, both in the newspaper business, are master manipulators, which suggests that being in the press at that time required you to be contriving. In “His Girl Friday”, Walter, the editor of a paper, bends the truth countless times to get what he wants. You can see this most when he is interacting with Hildy. He basically tells her anything she wants to hear to get what he wants. Whether it is to write an article or fall back in love with him, Walter makes it happen and he often tells a few lies along the way. In ”Citizen Kane”, Charlies, a newspaper publicist, is constantly manipulating his second wife. One of the most memorable times is when Charles forces her to sing for his own fancy. He makes it seem like it is her idea and does not let her give an opinion. The one time she does voice her feelings, he immediately shuts her down and pretends like it never happened. On another occasion, Kane used his paper to send the US into the Spanish-American War, all for to gain political popularity. I think that both of these men are a spot on reflection of what press looks like today. Publicists often spin people’s words, dig in places they shouldn’t, and create flat out “fake news”. Journalism is more often than not a dirty business. These movies prove that is was back then, and the hundreds of articles we are flooded with daily prove that it is now.
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