The Paper (1994)

Ron Howard’s The Paper is a drama film that portrays the story of a journalist named Henry Hackett in a span of 24 hours. The story begins by showing two black men walking outside a restaurant. They encounter a car parked underneath a bridge and decide to investigate. One of them discovers that the car has two old men sitting inside, shot to death. They argue amongst themselves on what they should do, while an older woman walking her dog spots them and screams. This startles the two men and they decide to run away from the murder scene. The focus then shifts to Henry and his wife, about how she wants him to leave his job at the New York Sun and consider the job at New York Sentinel, which is a rival news firm. Later that day, the two black men are picked up by the NYPD in their home and are to be charged with murder. However, Henry and McDougal (a columnist for Sun) believe that the two men are innocent. Henry has his people gather information proving that the two men are innocent in order to print a story for the next morning’s headline. His wife finds out that the two men who were murdered had stolen from a firm that had ties with the Italian Mafia. Henry and McDougal then confirm from Richie (a police officer from the NYPD) that the two black men were arrested so that people would trust that the police force is able to control crime and thus the tourism rate in the city would not drop. Henry and McDougal then return to the New York Sun and discover that Alicia (the managing editor of Sun) had already authorized a printing of tomorrow’s paper with the headline “Gotcha!” with a picture of the two black men, implying that they had been caught and proven guilty. Near the end of the film, Alicia contacts the foreman of printing and instructs him to change the headline to Henry and McDougal’s “They Didn’t Do It!”

The film’s main message to the audience is that some journalists would do anything and risk a lot of factors if they believe that their column and story is factually correct, even if it opposes the opinions of people that surround them. During a brainstorm session regarding the title of the headline, people were implying that the two men are indeed guilty. Henry tells them that McDougal heard from the police scanner that the cops who arrested the “Brooklyn boys” thought that the bust was wrong. This leads to him believing that they are innocent. We learn that he was able to steal information regarding the two dead men during his job interview for the New York Sentinel. The man who interviewed him later finds out about this and he loses his chance to work for Sentinel. Henry also risks his relationship with Martha, his wife, when he bails from their agreed upon dinner to visit the NYPD with McDougal.

Throughout the film, we are presented with many problems that Henry was faced with. The most obvious and most important one being that journalists in general have quite a difficult life. This is revealed at the beginning when Henry asks his editor-in-chief Bernie if he should continue with the interview at New York Sentinel. He tells Bernie that the long hours and low pay is taking at toll on his life, especially because Martha is pregnant and about to give birth. This can be further explained when one observes the clocks strewn throughout the office; the time shown clearly tells the audience that there are still many employees in this firm that work throughout the night in order to print the story for the next day’s paper. When it comes to the low pay that comes with being a journalist, the conversation between Alicia and Bernie is the highlight. She comes to him asking for a contract pay raise, and he tells her a story and explains that: “…if you try to make this job about the money, you’ll be nothing but miserable because we don’t get the money. Never had never will.”

Relationships with people also seem to be affected in journalists’ lives in the film. Henry’s relationship with his wife deteriorates. He disregards her phone calls whenever she wants to check up on him and later leaves during their dinner in order to join McDougal in the NYPD. Alicia is also revealed to have marital problems, as she is seen in one scene to be having an affair with a reporter from the Sun. Bernie tells her that she should stop it while she can, following with “it won’t lead to anywhere good, trust me on that” implying that he went through the same thing. Lastly, Bernie is estranged from his daughter, who refuses to talk to him.

Being disregarded when it comes to final decisions was a problem that Henry faced towards the end of the film. Whilst he was out gathering statements from the contact in the NYPD, Alicia approved the printing of the next day’s newspaper with the headline that she had proposed during the brainstorming session: “GOTCHA!” She authorized the printing of a news article that may not have been true and thus would have ruined the lives of the Brooklyn boys, had it been distributed.

An important lesson that one can learn from the film is to always present the truth. When it comes to journalism, I’ve learned that facts are the most important basis of a story. From the revelation of McDougal to Henry, up until the end when they actually prove that the Brooklyn boys were innocent, he believed that the truth was out there and that he should try to find it before the wrong story gets printed. The shifting of priorities could also be a factor that one would need when it comes to journalism. If Henry did not leave the restaurant, he might have not gotten the proof that he needs for the story.