Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times

Somehow the most meta thing I saw at all of SXSW this year was a fairly straight forward documentary about the New York Times. We all know that newspapers are going the way of celluloid film, compact discs, and pay telephones. The times they are a-changin. And while many newspapers have been driven out of business, the New York Times hangs on. Not only that but they had the insight to setup a media reporting department that essentially reports on the collapse of their own industry. What better place to take a snapshot of how media is transforming in the internet age than a newspaper department that reports on newspapers.

“Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times,” is a fascinated documentary about this shifting landscape and what it means for our society. The internet was a game changer on how people receive information. Why wait for the morning paper when you can see news unfolding in front of you with the click of a mouse. The problem is that no real investigative journalism takes place on the internet. It’s just a lot of sites regurgitating sexy bullshit link bate to bump up their views so they can make more ad revenue. No newspaper has been able to find the right business model for the internet age to keep them afloat. Some think tablets will save the newspaper industry, but take a look at how iPods crippled the music industry and guess again.

This documentary isn’t just filled with fascinating revelations about the future of the business, but it also gives you an inside look at the inner workings of the nations leading journalistic institution. And the characters that populate the newsroom are just as fascinating as the positions they hold. This movie is great and it puts people like me to shame. I don’t read the newspaper and I probably never will, despite the fact that I know full well the incredible value of it. It’s assholes like me that are driving newspapers to bankruptcy. But I’m a kid, I’m not in their target demo, and it’s just so much easier to get my news from my twitter feed. Forgive the internet generation, for we are too stupid to appreciate what will be lost. But even if you’ve never read a newspaper you should still see this movie.