When Citizen McCaw premiered on the Arlington Theatre in 2008, the viewers was handled not solely to the story of the undoing of the Santa Barbara Information-Press however a communal viewing replete with the hissing and booing and laughter of everybody round them. With the latest demise of the each day newspaper, the parents behind the weblog Newsmakers with JR — Jerry Roberts and Hap Freund — invite the general public to a contemporary screening, this one free on the Marjorie Luke Theatre, on Wednesday, September 27 at 7 p.m., adopted by solutions to questions despatched by the viewers upfront.
Jerry Roberts, after all, was editor in chief of the Information-Press when he walked out of the constructing in 2006, accompanied by 4 different editors and longtime columnist Barney Brantingham. That walkout lit the bonfire that turned the Information-Press Mess. The Mess takes 78 minutes to unwind throughout Citizen McCaw, with questions of journalism ethics, trustworthy reporting, and the position of a newspaper’s proprietor on the fore. Roberts’s co-producer since their TV Santa Barbara days is Freund, who has labored behind the scenes for many years in communities and communications.
Citizen McCaw got here to be a lesson in how to not run a newsroom, seen in lecture rooms across the nation, mentioned one of many producers, Rod Lathim. “I imagine that is as a lot an ethical story as it’s a deep take a look at journalism and ethics,” Lathim mentioned of the renewal the documentary is having fun with. Solely a month in the past, the paper’s billionaire proprietor, Wendy McCaw, was pressured to file for Chapter 7 chapter.
In the event that they have been to ask questions now, mentioned each Lathim and Sam Tyler, who directed the documentary, they might wish to find out about what was owed to reporters and different debtors and if McCaw’s transfers of properties could be scrutinized. “Or did chapter make what McCaw owes disappear?” requested Tyler, who went on to mourn the lack of a “trusted supply of stories with a stellar group of journalists.” He cited “pot shenanigans all through the county,” Munger Corridor, and State Road as examples of the place press scrutiny was wanted to highlight politicians, the highly effective, and unhealthy coverage.
“If nothing else is discovered from Citizen McCaw, hopefully will probably be a great reminder for us all to be form to our fellow people,” mentioned Lathim. “Once we benefit from, and abuse these round us, karma ultimately comes again to chunk us within the butt.”
Becoming a member of Roberts on the screening might be “key gamers in The Information Press Meltdown,” Roberts promised, to assist discipline the questions from the viewers. To ship questions and ideas, electronic mail newsmakerswithjr@gmail.com. To RSVP to order a seat on the free displaying on September 27, go right here.
