Hacker Cinema
Page One: Inside the New York Times
2011 · Film · documentary · 88 min
Directed by Andrew Rossi
Unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom yields a complex view of the transformation of a media landscape fraught with both peril and opportunity.
8 positive1 neutralfrom 9 commenters
Where to watch
No streaming data for this title.
9 comments on Hacker News
Your observation reminds me of a fun 2010 interaction between Vice and NYT illustrating some tension then between the two outlets that is featured in the documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times. (David Carr and Shane Smith would later laugh together about the exchange during a panel at Vanity Fair's New Establishment Summit in 2014.) Excerpt: https://youtu.be/iLmkec_4Rfo Full: https://hoopladigital.com/title/11049551
Here is a list of 20 documentaries I have come to love and return to when I come across them. There is no specific order to them. Enjoy! The * next to the number indicates the last 4 years. If you have seen one listed that you'd like to share what you think about please leave a comment with this structure [# in the list ] Comment... . i.e. [1] Loved learning about Noyce. What a guy.
1. Silicon Valley: Where the Future | PBS: American Experience [1:23:19] [2013] History of the how Silicon Valley came to be. William Shockley. Robert Noyce. Fairchild Semiconductor, The Traitorous Eight. Homepage: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/silicon/ Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/122744 Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/silicon-valley
2. Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware | Wired UK: Future Cities [1:07:50] [2016] the evolution of “Shanzhai” – or copycat manufacturing – has transformed traditional models of business, distribution and innovation, and asks what the rest of the world can learn from this so-called “Silicon Valley of hardware". Youtube: https://youtu.be/SGJ5cZnoodY
*2.1. The People's Republic of The Future | Bloomberg: Hello World [30:10] [2019] Shenzhen, tech-fueled entrepreneurs try to navigate an authoritarian regime. Youtube: https://youtu.be/taZJblMAuko
3. The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard | TPB AFK [1:22:07] [2013] The history of the Pirate Bay. Torrenting. Legal. Privacy. Homepage: https://tpbafk.tv Youtube: https://youtu.be/eTOKXCEwo_8 Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-pirate-bay-away-from-keyboard
4. Can’t Get You Out of My Head | BBC [6 Part] [2021] Adam Curtis takes you on "An Emotional history of how we got to this place." Economics. History. Power. Psychology. World. China. Russia. UK. USA. Part 1: Bloodshed on Wolf Mountain [1:14:15] Part 2: Shooting and F*king are the Same Thing [1:14:01] Part 3: Money Changes Everything [1:10:36] Part 4: But What If the People Are Stupid? [1:13:29] Part 5: The Lordly Ones [1:05:43] Part 6: Are We Pigeon? Or Are We Dancer? [1:59:50] Homepage: https://www.bbc.com/bbcfilm/films/cant-get-you-out-of-my-head/ BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p093wp6h/cant-get-you-out-of-my-head Thought Maybe: https://thoughtmaybe.com/cant-get-you-out-of-my-head/
5. Three Identical Strangers | NEON [1:37:00] [2018] Its in the name, but The less you know about this story the better. Homepage: https://www.threeidenticalstrangers.com Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/11374410 Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/three-identical-strangers
6. The Pharmacist | Netflix [4 Part] [2020] A small-town pharmacist investigates the death of his son in a drug deal, but his investigation skills only expands when OxyContin becomes available. Part 1: Justice for Danny [1:00:38] Part 2: A Mission from God [58:47] Part 3: Dope Dealers with White Lab Coats [47:30] Part 4: Tunnel of Hope [48:31] Homepage: https://thecinemart.com/the-pharmacist.html Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81002576 Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-pharmacist
7. AlphaGo | Netflix [1:30:27] [2017] Deepmind, Alphabets's AI company, creates an AI to play the game Go and faces off to beat the best, Lee Sedol. Homepage: https://www.alphagomovie.com Youtube: https://youtu.be/WXuK6gekU1Y Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/alphago
8. Page One: Inside the New York Times | Magnolia Pictures [1:31:38] [2011] As print media begins to be challenged by the internet, you get an inside look into NY Times. Homepage: http://www.magpictures.com/pageone/ Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/page-one-inside-the-new-york-times
9. The Secret of Tuxedo Park | PBS: American Experience [53:00] [2018] Alfred Lee Loomis isn't just a Wall Street tycoon, but a scientist with a checkbook to pay for it. Opening his home to the best, he follows his interest and a call from the government about WWII. Homepage: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/secret-tuxedo-park/
10. The Century of the Self | BBC [4 Part] [2002] Adam Curtis investigates how Freudian theory influenced twentieth century society. Part 1: Happiness Machines [58:32] Part 2: The Engineering of Consent [58:40] Part 3: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads, He Must Be Destroyed [58:39] Part 4: Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering [59:32] Homepage: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ghx6g BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p00ghx6g/the-century-of-the-self Thought Maybe: https://thoughtmaybe.com/the-century-of-the-self/
11. How Ants Can Make The Internet a Safer Place | Tom Mishra [00:04:08] [2015] Five researchers, scientists and mathematicians studied the behavior of Ants and Game Theory to create a safer Internet. Video: https://vimeo.com/147548221
12. Chasing Einstein | Ignite [1:22:00] [2019] Follows leading scientists around the world, from the largest particle accelerator at CERN in Switzerland to the LIGO gravitational wave detector in the US to find out whether Einstein's theory of gravity can stand the test of time. Homepage: https://chasingeinsteinfilm.com Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/chasing-einstein
13. Language of Love (Ur kärlekens språk) | [1:43:00] [1969] * Rated X, and in Swedish A panel of real-life doctors discuss sexual hangups, misconceptions, personal prejudices and the ignorance of individuals when it comes to matters sexual. Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/language-of-love
14. Citizenfour | TWC [1:54:00] [2014] A documentarian and a reporter travel to Hong Kong to meet Edward Snowden where they release classified information. Homepage: https://citizenfourfilm.com Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/citizen-four
15. Abacus: Small Enough to Jail | PBS: Frontline [1:30:00] [2016] The Chinese immigrant Sung family, owners of Abacus Federal Savings of Chinatown, New York is targeted by the DA in the mess after the 2008 financial crisis. Homepage: https://www.abacusmovie.com Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/2141966 Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/abacus-small-enough-to-jail
16. Zero Days | Magnolia Pictures [1:56:00] [2016] Stuxnet, a self-replicating computer virus discovered in 2010 by international IT experts points to be created by the NSA and used by Unit 8200, Israel, on Iran nuclear enrichment facility. Homepage: http://www.zerodaysfilm.com Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/10846994 Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/zero-days
17. Tell Me Who I Am | Netflix [1:25:32] [2019] The less you know about this story the better. Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80214706 Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/tell-me-who-i-am
18. McMillions | HBO [6 Part] [2020] A detailed account of the McDonald's Monopoly game scam during the 1990s. Part 1: Episode 1 [55:50] Part 2: Episode 2 [53:57] Part 3: Episode 3 [56:54] Part 4: Episode 4 [57:08] Part 5: Episode 5 [56:41] Part 6: Episode 6 [56:59] HBO: https://www.hbo.com/mc-millions Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/mcmillion
19. Jesus Camp | Magnolia Pictures [1:24:00] [2006] Children at a christian summer camp as they hone their "prophetic gifts" and are schooled in how to "take back America for christ." The film is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again christian children to become an active part of America's political future. Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/10803148 Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/jesus-camp
*20. The Edge of All We Know | Netflix [1:39:00] [2020] Follow the quest to understand the most mysterious objects in the universe, black holes. Homepage: https://www.blackholefilm.com Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81343342 Where to Watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/black-holes-the-edge-of-all-we-know
Just saw the "Page One" documentary about the NYT and came to the same conclusion. While the NYT staff spent most of their time talking about how technology is affecting their "interests" there were only two people in the documentary who mentioned the importance of a free press for promoting justice and disseminating truth: Julian Assange and Markos Moulitsas.
So we see shots of NYT reporters checking Google News and talking about twitter. And then the most appalling bit of the film where Judith Miller justifies her behavior by trying to pass the buck to the government, as if anti-war sources (like the FAS) who were actively debunking the crap she was publishing and clamoring for attention did not actually exist.
Pretty great documentary called Page One on Netflix about the NYTimes that has some running commentary on modern journalism.
There's a clip with David Simon (The Wire creator, former editor of the Baltimore Sun) arguing with Ariana Huffington about the legitimacy of HuffPo's encroaching empire.
I'm so sick of the "curation" discussion - if companies like NYT go belly-up, there won't be anything for Huffington Post et al. to "curate". It's inherently derivative.
The clip of NYT's David Carr discussing this in a debate in the documentary Page One is unavailable, but I encourage people to watch it.
Clayton Cubitt originally described professionalism versus amateurism very well, but this will do:
“Can an amateur take a picture as good as a professional? Sure,” Ms. Eismann said. “Can they do it on demand? Can they do it again? Can they do it over and over? Can they do it when a scene isn’t that interesting?”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/business/media/30photogs.html?pagewanted=all
It bothers me that people equate "news" and "journalism".
Yea, that's David Carr's voice (the NYTimes writer). He's kind of a skeptical luddite, but I have immense respect for him. He's one of the central figure in the NYTimes documentary "Page One: Inside the New York Times."
You can also listen to NPR without donating.
In the documentary "Page One", http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1787777/, the then executive editor of the NY Times said that they were basically adopting the NPR model: people who like it will pay for it.
It's a tangent, but David Carr is an interesting bird, spanning both old and post-Twitter journalism. You can get some insights on him in the recent NY Times documentary -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_One:_Inside_the_New_York_Times
I really think this looks amazing. It would likely function amazingly well, too.
However, for this to work, you have to eliminate the space for ads. To deal with this, Rutledge suggests "Quality news is subscription only. You pay for valuable information. Fluff you get for free."
I somehow don't think it's that simple.
If you slam the digital door shut (much more than it is now at the Times), and only allow subscriber access, you'll do two things:
(1) vastly reduce your readership; if you want to go back to showing ads, you can't, because you no longer can brag about the vast numbers reading your website daily (2) create a hyper-focused pirating scheme around disseminating NYTimes content for free
I love news. I love good reporting. When I'm no longer a student, I'll pay to get the Times at home. BUT, we've got a serious problem here; this design, while well thought-out, fails to acknowledge that it can't exist (eliminating ads) without changing the industry (changing readership drastically).
I very much look forward to seeing this movie: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/page_one_inside_the_new_york_times/ which touches on these issues.