"The Fourth Estate" (2018 release; 4 episodes; 260 min.) is a documentary about the day-to-day journalism that the New York Times does. As Episode 1 "100 Days" opens, it is January 20, 2017 and Trump is being sworn in. We get to know Dean Baquet, Executive Editor of the Times, about the rapidly changing landscape, both within the newspaper industry and within the political sphere ("We are dealing with a President who is very comfortable not telling the truth"). It's not long before one political bombshell starts falling after another...
Couple of comments: this documentary series is produced and directed by veteran film maker Liz Garbus, one of the premier documentarians of this generation ("Bobby Fisher Against the World", "There' Something Wrong With Aunt Diane", "What Happened, Miss Simone?"). Here she is granted seemingly unlimited access to the New York Times for months on end, and at all times of the day and night. The core team of political and investigative reporters becomes very familiar to us over these 4 episodes. Couple of things that are really striking: (1) the competition, in particular against the Washington Post, is killer. Watch the expression on the NTY reporters' faces when the WaPo breaks a big story (the Flynt story) in early 2017 before they do. (2) these reporters are putting in HUGE amount of hours, and need to basically be available 24/7. "Reporters today are working much harder than when i was a reporter", comments Baquet. (3) it's all about posting a story on-line. The print edition has become an afterthought. (4) did I mention it is HARD WORK? holy cow. Please note that the theme music and some of the score is courtesy of NIN's Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Earlier this week I attended a book event here in CIncinnati featuring the New York Times' Deputy General Counsel David McGraw (discussing his new book "Truth in Our Times"). He mentioned that the NYT must do a better job explaining to the public what (and how) it works, and that this Showtime series was a deliberate effort to make the paper more accessible and transparent. I had not heard of this series until this week, and then promptly bingewatched it. What an engrossing and must-see documentary this turned out to be! Even though it's now 18 months old, it feels still 100% relevant with this crazy age that is the Trump administration. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
