The Newsroom, Season 1, Episode 6 - Watch-Along Version
Added 2025-11-03 23:55:15 +0000 UTCBullies
Comments
I really appreciate the way in which the guest was given an opportunity to clap back at Will for his unrelenting line of questioning that was both disrespectful and myopic. Will really needed that, and I think we as the viewers needed it, too. First of all, Will was being myopic because he blew the entire interview time on Rick Santorum’s stance on homosexuality. There were plenty of other issues with Rick Santorum as a candidate, and if the viewers of ACN didn’t have a problem with his homophobia, they might have had a problem with some of his other stances that Will didn’t make time to address. 2) Instead of discrediting Rick Santorum as a competent leader, Will spent his time discrediting the guest for supporting him. Over and over Will was essentially saying, “Rick Santorum doesn’t respect people of your race or people of your sexual orientation, so he doesn’t respect you, and you’re an idiot for deluding yourself that he does and continuing to support him.” He fixated on making it personal, and that was ugly. Lastly, I applaud his comment that he is not defined by his gayness. The thing about the LGBTQ+ community is that activists have fought for decades so that we can decide openly how our sexuality shapes us, and for some people it’s more than others, especially when you consider issues of intersectionality. When people hold multiple minority identities, they absolutely have utter discretion about which facets are most central to their identity. Furthermore, people who were raised religiously, including people in ethnic minorities, have a tendency to be more conservative on social issues. If you set aside the LGBT part, people can still be conservative about abortion, prayer in school, women’s issues, the role of government versus religion in poverty alleviation, etc. One reason that Trump won a second term is that Democrats assumed that minorities wouldn’t vote for someone who blatantly disrespected them. However, they’re used to being disrespected and chose to vote using other criteria instead. The way I imagine it is this - as a Jew, I’ve been around people my whole life who believe I’m going to hell because I’ve refused to be “saved by Christ.” Some of them tell me openly and up front, and some don’t admit it until we’ve been acquainted for quite a while. Some won’t say it at all, but it’s clear from their other loudly stated views that, logically, they must believe it. There are plenty of people who don’t think I’m going to hell because I’m a Jew, but there are so many people who do that I just tune it out. The colleague I ask for help at work and the first responder I rely on in a crisis are people I’m going to turn to because of their competence, regardless of their opinions about my identity. You learn not to internalize it or you crumple.
Kt B
2025-11-05 03:48:05 +0000 UTCCan't wait!
Kevin R Studer
2025-11-05 00:21:08 +0000 UTCYa know, I can get down on some turkey sausage....I am not a fan of turkey bacon! I totally forgot about TWW connection. We're both really curious about Sports Night, hopefully we can get to it someday
Kevin R Studer
2025-11-05 00:20:59 +0000 UTCHow much should we bet that the owner's son had her back after breaking off-the-record sourcing since it would make her look tough for when she DOESN'T press the CEOs when they lie on her 4pm business show?
Actuarial Lurker
2025-11-04 09:24:53 +0000 UTCAfter last week's inappropriate banter we find out that she is so stupid that she thought Atlanta was invaded, and then the oppo research is assigned by his producer on the newsroom floor and then the two of them discuss the details of HR investigations of their boss in public ?? And Eskimo is a slur meaning "dog eater" used by the enemies of the Inuit to malign them... They would have fired half of the staff by now for misconduct...
Actuarial Lurker
2025-11-04 09:07:49 +0000 UTCThis is kind of where I land, Will went too far but also this guy is acting as a public figure voluntarily opening himself up to criticism. I get abortion being his number one issue even though I totally disagree with his side on it but then just say that's why you're supporting Santorum, you don't have to double down on him being respectful to you when he's clearly not.
dys
2025-11-04 04:06:04 +0000 UTCI'm so glad you'll be watching the rest of the series! Seasons 2 and 3 are a bit different, but they're quite good and round out a complete story for these characters. Regarding Will's interview with the Santorum supporter: I suppose I can see that he went too far, and I don't believe in bullying or disrespecting anyone because of their beliefs. HOWEVER... I do think it's the job of a good journalist to point out the hypocrisy in someone's statements, especially if they are representing a political figure. That guest should have been ready to defend his position, and I do wish more journalists would call out people on their bullshit.
Jeff
2025-11-04 03:44:33 +0000 UTCThey did the gay Republican thing on TWW, too. I think it was a Congressman who Josh was trying to work with on a bill. You guys talked about the humor on this show punctuating the drama before the episode even started, and then you had the biggest laugh I've seen on Don's "...sup?" right before Charlie's blow-up. If you really want to see the funnier side of Sorkin (and lots more of the TV control room stuff), try Sports Night. It's not as good as this show or TWW, but it's a lot of fun, and does have some classic drama to it. Robert Guillaume gives some of my favorite performances. I wonder if turkey bacon has enough tryptophan to counter the tyramine...
Michael Bennett
2025-11-04 03:14:18 +0000 UTCLike with so many Sorkin projects, the plant radiation story has a lot of gray area (which is part of why he is such a terrific writer). I remember reading at the time that the workers who restored the plant died from their efforts, and it wasn't until much later that I learned otherwise.
Kevin R Studer
2025-11-04 02:48:02 +0000 UTCNeil is way too confident in the comment section verification being difficult to hack, this is classic "TV writers writing about IT". Olivia Munn does speak fluent Japanese, she spent a lot of her childhood there. I'm actually not sure if it was better that Sloan did (accurately, but unethically from an off-the-record conversation) report that the radiation level was higher than they were saying, because no one actually died from radiation in the Fukushima plant disaster; even though there were a lot of rumors at the time that the workers who went in to stabilize the plant knew it was a suicide mission, all but one of them are alive today, while a number of people did die in the rush to evacuate.
dys
2025-11-04 02:23:59 +0000 UTCNext week’s episode is my favorite!
Joy M
2025-11-04 02:01:07 +0000 UTCYay!!!!! So glad you've decided to do all 3 seasons!
Yannick, from Montréal
2025-11-04 00:13:11 +0000 UTC
