IN 1994, Ron Howard (Richie Cunningham of Happy Days as was) made a sprightly little movie called The Paper.
Set on a New York tabloid, it was as much a comedy as it was a fast-paced drama.
Now along comes The Papers, plural, and far from being a work of fiction, this two-part documentary was filmed close to home. Or rather close to our home from home: the offices of The Herald, The Herald on Sunday, The Evening Times, The National, and the Sunday National.
That’s a lot of papers. Will there be a lot to say?
Filmed, produced and directed by Sarah Howitt, The Papers is an Indelible Telly/tvi production for BBC Scotland. The hook for the series was Brexit, and the series was meant to end neatly with Britain’s exit from the EU on March 29, 2019. As we now know, things did not turn out that way.
As Brexit chugged along, one late night drama following the next, there was another story to tell: of how newspapers are adapting to survive in the internet age. The cameras film reporters and photographers doing what they have always done, going out to meet people and getting stories, but it is no longer simply a case of writing something for the next day. The news has to go online first and fast, accompanied by pictures and videos, and distributed via social media. All of it done by the same person before moving on to the next job.
But a front page is still all important in persuading a reader to part with their cash, and as we see in the case of The National, a great idea well executed can make headlines nationally and internationally.
Staff are interviewed, as are the editors of the titles.
We see what it takes to stand out in a fiercely competitive market when budgets and staffing levels are tight but the demand for news keeps growing. There is no shortage of drama, but there is humour too as seemingly impossible deadlines are met and the papers make it on to the streets. As one journalist says, “Things don’t stop. You just find a way to do more.”
The Papers, BBC Scotland, 9pm, Thursday
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