Tuesday, July 17, 2012; 10:28:24 PM Eastern
Why The Newsroom works where The Social Network didn't
I think I know why news people hate The Newsroom. I think it's the same reason I hated The Social Network. Because he got it all wrong about how tech companies work. You can't make software and drink like a fool. Maybe you can be a musician that way, but software isn't like that. I don't think basketball players can be heavy drinkers the night before a game. I've never known a great programmer who was also a boozer. - Anyway that wouldn't have mattered if Sorkin had written an idealistic story for The Social Network like the one he writes for The Newsroom. If he had them arguing about protecting the freedom or privacy of users. Or fighting the corruption of big tech companies, or telling VCs where to shove it, refusing to treat users like hamsters.
- But Sorkin doesn't use the Internet so he doesn't have any great vision for how it could be better. That's where The Newsroom is different. He is a news user, and he's pissed off at the simple easy things news people could do to fight for their users. He understands news, not from the inside but from the outside. And that's why the show works. Why it inspires and why it resonates with news users.
