Thursday, March 6, 2014
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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In both films, His Girl Friday and Citizen Kane the protagonists play important roles in the newspaper business. This allows the viewer a unique look at the lifestyle of a reporter/publisher. In both films it is evident that the newspaper business moves very quickly, in His Girl Friday the reporters are running all over town attempting to get the story. In Citizen Kane Mr. Kane is able to grow the Inquire to be the largest newspaper in New York, surpassing the Chronicle in just a few short years. Also in both films relationships were hurt because of the workers devotion to their jobs. Hildy Johnson chose to write the story instead of attempting to catch the nine ‘clock train and her significant other, resulting in him attempting to return home and Hildy running off with Walter Burns. Mr. Kane’s first marriage was hurt by his commitment to his newspaper; he refused to stop writing critical articles about his wife’s uncle, the president. Also he would spend long hours at the office, often reorganizing the newspaper, then leaving early in the morning for the office once again. A lot has changed since the publication of these two movies. At the time of publication newspapers were regarded highly, they were one of the few ways to get the news. Also it was hard to fact check the stories and options expressed in the newspapers. Therefor the newspapers had a lot of power. Throughout the time period there were only two ways from people to get the news, newspapers and radio. Now there are countless ways, innumerable internet sites and television stations to name a few. These new inventions have lessened the need for newspapers and taken away some of their power.
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ReplyDeleteHis Girl Friday and Citizen Kane are both films that revolve around the life a busy journalist who write for highly regarded newspapers. As Max mentioned, in this era of journalism everything moved very fast and there was not a lot of time for fun, but rather, trying to get that next big story out to the public eye. These films also show us that the protagonists had to undergo extreme stress and were always under a time constraint to ensure their newspapers credibility. The film also shows that these journalists did not have a lot of time for a vibrant social life because they constantly had to worry about themselves and how they could write the next big story for their newspaper. Journalists in that time are similar to present day Breaking News reporters who have to be at the sight of all of the commotion. There is no time to dilly-dally and every second counted for the journalists. For both films, in that era the only way to receive adequate news coverage was through the newspapers and as in many scenes in both films, when people are relaxing they are either at lunch or smoking a cigar/cigarette with a newspaper. That is similar today with the emergence of social networking, and the fact that all big stories are now found on online news coverage sites. I the end, being a journalist in these films was easily one of the more important jobs available, but with technology advancing rapidly, we are surrounded by numerous ways to access breaking news coverage. However, even with what seems like endless options, the journalist is still needed to release that news to the people.
His Girl Friday and Citizen Kane film tells us that journalism in the 1940’s was very competitive. Journalist in this film would do anything to get the best story; some paid for a good story and some would break the law. This shows the importance of journalist during the 1940’s because in the 1940’s people did not have the Internet and TV did not become very popular until the late 1940’s, therefore people relied mainly on newspaper and radio. In His Girl Friday Hildy sacrificed her future with Bruce to continue to be a journalist because she loved the excitement, even though she repeatedly says she wants a simple life. Publishers are also very influential because they pick what is put in the paper. In His Girl Friday Walter pushes Hildy to write a story on the murder in hopes that the murderer will not be executed. In Citizen Kane Charles Foster Kane and his reporters tend to use their imaginations and stretch the truth for their stories. The publisher set the tone for the paper. Kane set his paper up to cover only sensational stories that were not always true. Burns’ paper covers big, sensational stories, but instead of making up facts he pushed his reporters to get the best, true story. Since the 1940’s much of the news people hear is online, which does raise the issue of credibility because information moves so fast that it is not all fact checked and there are news sites made to make fun of media headlines and pop culture. The need for information is still vital to people and journalist are still competitive, trying to get the best stories, but the medium has changed.
ReplyDeleteIn both His Girl Friday and Citizen Kane the audience is exposed to the dog-eat-dog world of news journalism. The main characters, Hildy Johnson and Charles Foster Kane, each display an extreme fervor towards their professions, which eventually destroys their chances at living a typical American life. While the two movies have very different plots and story telling methods, they both prove the point that an occupation in journalism sends one on a circuitous journey that ends where it began. For Hildy, the journey is fueled by her passion for the job. Quite frankly, she can’t be away from the newspaper. She enjoys the uptempo, banter-inducing lifestyle that journalism provides. The movie tells a story in which Hildy starts as a journalist, tries desperately to leave the profession behind for a different life, and eventually returns to her natural place. Citizen Kane is told in a different, more metaphorical manner, but the effect is comparatively similar. The film starts with a shot of the “No Trespassing” sign, tells the tale of Kane’s ascension and descension to and from glory, and ends with a shot of the “No Trespassing” sign. While Kane was driven by greed, he- much like Hildy- ends where he started, yearning for Rosebud. All that I extract from the films on this topic is that while the profession of journalism is an incredibly wild ride, one can’t develop as a person if they’re a journalist. As a viewer, you get the sense that Kane barely matured throughout his life. He always acted based on his own desires, never on those from the people around him. Equally, Hildy just couldn’t stop playing the game that was working for the paper. It was too much fun.
ReplyDeleteIn both films of "His Girl Friday" and "Citizen Kane" the viewers can see how competitive and hectic the journalism business is. In both films, looking specifically at "His Girl Friday," the journalists and even the owner of the newspaper (Walter) go to extremes to get the "story of the century," for credibility and status. Walter needs Hildy to write the story because she truly is the best, but the problem is that she is leaving. This is where the extent the newspaper owner is show, and how competitive that world is. Walter gets involved with counterfeit money, kidnapping, and hiding an alleged murderer, which is obviously against the law. The addictive or captivating nature of journalism is epitomized in film. Hildy, despite declaring herself out of the business and doing everything in her power to keep it that way, finds herself back in at the end of the film. The "no trespassing" sign that keeps Hildy's fiance out also confirms the fact that journal-ling is a part of whole separate competitive and ruthless world. All of this is also present in the "Citizen Kane" film. Charles Kane is very aggressive and captivated in his job. He also goes to extreme positions in his business, both changing the truth for own benefit, and also letting it seriously affect his personal life. The newspaper business was the only thing spoken of at home with his first wife, which eventually led to divorce, and he used his second wife and his power to maintain the fame the newspaper originally gave him, (by bending the truth in the reviews of his wife's singing.)
ReplyDeleteThe role of the newspaper was much, much bigger before the new technology that we have today. Nowadays newspapers cannot get away with hardly any false information because people have more ways of knowing what is going on than they did then. Back then your only source of information might be the newspaper and who is to say that everything in there wasn’t true? This creates a huge amount of power for the newspaper owners and editors like Charles Kane and Walter Burns. Charles Kane, portraying William Philip Hearst, even alluded to Hearst’s famously starting the Spanish-American war with his techniques in yellow journalism. The press had the power to present anything in the way that they want to. The editor has the final say of what is in print and what isn’t, allowing them to really run a lot of aspects of local society. Now since there are so many immediate ways of getting information such as televised news and the internet, printed news is a declining interest to a lot of people. This wasn’t the case before television in the 1940s, if you wanted to know what was going on in your town or city you had no choice but to read the news or talk to someone who did. This was obvious in “Citizen Kane” especially in one of the beginning scenes in which Charles talks about changing a newspaper heading to portray false information; that a woman who was reported to have gone missing was dead. Charles Kane did not even think twice about doing this because his concern was not with informing the people of the news, it was selling specifically his newspapers by making them more interesting.
ReplyDeleteBoth the film His Girl Friday and the film Citizen Kane portray the newspaper business in a negative light. His Girl Friday depicts reporters and publishers as manipulative, amoral people; however in Citizen Kane, Kane’s role as a newspaper man is parodied for its “supposed” morality and exaggeration. Hildy and Walter, the two central newspaper characters in His Girl Friday, are strong people, willing to do anything to get the story. At one point, Hildy tackles a man to discover the truth for a news report. Walter, Hildy’s ex-husband and also a manipulative character, is constantly involved in illegal things. Walter even gives his own ex-wife counterfeit money in order to get Hildy’s fiancé arrested. Another example of amorality in the newspaper business is when all of the newspapermen are reporting at the same time. This scene is used to show how the facts of the stories differ between reporters. The nonconformity between the reporters exemplifies the ambiguity of truth in the minds of the reporters. In the film Citizen Kane, newspapers are portrayed first as moral and honest, but then are shown to be sources of disinformation and manipulation of the public. Film Analysis, by Jeffrey Geiger and R. L. Rutsky, even goes as far as to say that Citizen Kane is playing off of the idea of “yellow journalism”. Yellow journalism is the publication of sensational stories for the purpose of selling newspapers. Kane’s declaration of principles, which he articulates on his first morning as a newspaper publisher, says that he is going to be moral, honest, and responsible for what goes into his newspaper. Kane’s declaration of principles is ironic when he then goes to say to Bernstein, “You provide the prose poems. I’ll provide the war” (Citizen Kane). Kane contradicts his own principles when he uses his newspaper to misinform the public. His manipulations make a fallacy of his claim to be a moral and honest newspaper.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1940’s getting your name out into the world was a difficult task. Without the technology we have today, during this time period most of the country was not connected. Actors, singers, radio broadcasters, and newspapers were really the only way for one to get their name out. Walter from His Girl Friday and Charles from Citizen Kane both took advantage of the press in order to develop their reputations. Writing articles was a way to promote yourself and gain popularity. If you ran, or worked for a newspaper during this time, you were thought of as a knowledgeable person. People would think that as a journalist, you had the insight into everything and you were a good source of information. People would think higher of you due to this. Charles used this in order to help support his campaigning. By exaggerating and creating the best stories, people began to learn his name and respect him. Through this he was able to then explain his desire to help those in need, and promote himself. Charles was never in it to provide people with the truth, but for himself, showing how imposing this job was. Walter had developed such as good reputation for himself through the press that when Hildy wants to leave, he involves himself with illegal crimes. This shows how desperate Walter was to maintain this job, due to the hierarchical status and reputation it provides. People were more susceptible to believing almost anything during that time. They had very limited resources for news, and were ok with listening to one source. Nowadays technology (phones/computers) has provided us with access to a wide range of news sources. From this we can hear different opinions, biases, evidence, and so on. The innumerable sources we now have access to have had a detrimental impact on the newspaper industry since they are unable to provide us with as much as technology can.
ReplyDeleteThe films His Girl Friday and Citizen Kane both emphasize the immense power that newspapers had during the 1940’s. In these movies, newspapers are used for power because they are the primary source of news for people. By manipulating what is in the newspapers, they can change public opinion. When Kane runs for office, he uses the popularity of his newspaper to support his campaign. In an attempt to remain in power his opponent informs other newspapers of Kane and Susan’s love nest. In both of these cases newspapers directly changed how people on average thought about Kane. Walter and Hildy were able to blatantly break the law because they worked for a newspaper. When Hildy hides Earl Williams she is obstructing justice, but when she finds out that Earl Williams used the sheriffs own gun to shoot him, she is able to use this as leverage over him. The newspapers control of public opinion was so strong that Kane used it to make Susan’s performances appear to be good. Every time she preformed there was an article in the newspaper about how excited all of the cities were about having her even though she obviously was not very good. Besides power, the newspapers got lots of money. Despite starting off with sixty million dollars, Kane was able to become so rich that they were unsure how much Xanadu was worth at the time of his death. Newspapers controlled the country’s views on nearly everything during the 40’s but due to the invention of other forms of media, they have lost some of their credibility due to the time it takes for them to be released. They no longer have the same sway on public opinion that they had in the past.
ReplyDeleteBoth films portrayed the cut throat nature of reporting in the 1940’s. Reporters in His Girl Friday question Earl William’s “girlfriend” so viciously, that she jumped out a third story window to escape them. This characteristic is expressed through this film, and the reporters “attack” multiple other people of interests. This feature of reporting is also seen in Citizen Kane, in that the whole film is about a reporter mercilessly going through Charles Foster Kane’s past trying to find out the meaning behind rosebud, with no respect for his privacy. This is still seen in todays media, with the private lives of celebrities common knowledge to the public. The other aspect of the newspaper business that was shown in these two films was the power of the press. In the 1940’s the main source of news came from newspapers, so what people read in the newspaper they believed. If you can control the press, you can control the people. This is seen in the power Mr.Kane has in owning a newspaper. What he tells the newspaper to print, that is what the people think. A similar amount of power is wielded by Walter Burns. It is what enables Walter and Hildy to get away with hiding a fugitive and black mail the mayor, after they learn the mayor was hiding the appeal for Earl William’s death. The power of the press has weakened in present day, where there are now many different sources for news. The media in general still wields that power, but the monopoly that newspapers used to hold is now broken.
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