1. JOURNALISM AND THE SILVER
SCREEN
JCOM 1500
Guest Lecturer: Morgan Worley

2. NE OR
TW K
“TELEVISION WILL NEVER BE THE
SAME”
 Summary of movie
 Released November 1976

3. REVIEWS: THEN AND NOW
 New York Times 1976
“N two rk can be faulted for going too far and not far
e
enough, but it’s also…alive.” (Canby 1976)
 Chicago Sun-Times 1976
“…[it] seems to be telling us is that television itself is
like…An economic process in the blind pursuit of ratings
and technical precision, in which excellence is as
accidental as banality.” (Ebert 1976)
 Chicago Reader 2003
“…shrill, self-important 1976 satire about television.”
(Rosenbaum 2003)
 Filmsite.org
“…[it is a] criticism of the hollow, lurid wasteland of
television journalism.” (Dirks 2012)

4. CULTURE OF THE TIME
 Culture of the time biased how journalists were
portrayed
-Television had become a mass medium
-Audiences were increasingly dependent on
what
they saw on TV
 They showed journalists as two separate groups
1. Older generation who just wanted to report news
as cold, hard, facts. Example from the movie: Max
Schumacher
2. Younger generation who saw TV as show
business and wanted to make money and ratings.
Example: Diana Christensen

5. DEPENDENCY THEORY
 The journalists in the movie were very aware that
audiences were increasingly dependent on media.
 “Americans’ views of their society and nations are
powerfully shaped by the stories that appear on the
evening news.” (Baran 2012)
 Audience’s were “dependent on media (a) to
understand the social world; (b) to act meaningfully
and effectively in society; and (c) to find fantasy and
escape or diversion.” (Baran 2012)

6. NE OR ’S VIEW ON ROLE OF
TW K
JOURNALISTS IN SOCIETY
 Journalists (especially in television) played a major
role in the opinions of the times. Saw it on the tube,
and they believe it!
 “Less than 3% of you read books…. The only truth
you know is what you get over this tube. Right now
there is a whole, an entire generation that didn’t
know anything that didn’t come out of this tube…
this tube is the most awesome go* dam* force in
the whole godless world!” (Chayefsky 1976)

7. ETHICAL ISSUE 1
 “Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid
curiosity.” (Chicago Headline Club 2012)
 “ Howard Beale went up there last night and said what
every American feels that he’s ‘tired of all the bullsh**!’
He’s articulating the popular rage!”
 “For God’s sakes Diana we are talking about putting a
manifestly irresponsible man on television…”
 “You can’t be seriously proposing that the rest of us are
seriously considering putting on a pornographic news
show, the FCC would kill us.”
“Sit down Nelson, the FCC can’t do anything except rap
our knuckles.”
 “All I know is that this violates every canon of
respectable broadcasting.”

10. RATINGS VS. HUMAN DECENCY
 “He could be jumping off a roof for all I know! The
man is insane; he’s not responsible for himself. He
needs care and treatment and all you grave robbers
think about is that he’s a hit!” (Chayefsky 1976)

12. JOURNALISTS IMPACT ON SOCIETY
 Very good example of how influential journalists can
be
 “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it
anymore!” (Chayefsky 1976)
 Telegrams flooded the White House after Beale told
the public to rise up against the CCA deal.

14. ETHICAL ISSUES 2, 3, & 4
 “Remain free of associations and activities that may
compromise integrity or damage credibility.
 Avoid misleading re-enactments or staged news
events. If re-enactment is necessary to tell a story,
label it.
 Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of
gathering information except when traditional open
methods will not yield information vital to the public.
Use of such methods should be explained as part
of the story.” (Chicago Headline Club 2012)

15.  “We can’t deal with them [Ecumenical Liberation
Army] directly, after all they are wanted criminals.”
 “We would not want to produce a television show
celebrating historically deviational terrorism.”
 “Two FBI guys turned up in Hackett’s office last
week and served us with a subpoena. They heard
about our Flagstaff bank rip-off film and they want it.
Hackett told the FBI to f*** off.”
 “We’re getting around the FBI by doing the show in
collaboration with the news division!”
all quotes (Chayefsky 1976)

18. ETHICS ISSUE 5
 Examine your own cultural values and avoid
imposing those values on others (Chicago
Headline Club 2012)
 Corporate mentality of Mr. Jensen “It is the
international system of currency which determines
the totality of life on this planet…. There is no
America, there is no democracy. There is only IBM,
ITT and AT&T, and DuPont, DOW, Union Carbide,
and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world
today.” (Chayefsky 1976)

20. RATINGS >CRIME
 “What would you say to an assassination? I think I
can get the Mao Tse Tung people to kill Beale for us
as one of their shows. In fact, it’ll make a hell of a
kickoff show for the season. We’re facing heavy
opposition from the other networks on Wednesday
nights and the Mao Tse Tung hour could use a
sensational opener.”
 “We’re talking about a capitol crime here, the
network can’t be implicated.”
all quotes (Chayefsky 1976)

22. WERE THE ETHICS ISSUES
RESOLVED?
 Got rid of Beale so they weren’t pushing their ideas
on the public anymore
 Does the act of arranging the assassination cancel
out the one resolution of an ethics issue?

23. QUIZ TIME!

24. TRUE OR FALSE?
1. Agenda Setting theory was portrayed in the
movie.
2. The culture of the time was one where TV was
very much a mass medium.
3. The ethics issues were resolved.
4. Howard Beale was killed to help another show
have a “sensational season opener.”
5. One of the ethics issues challenged was never
plagiarize.

25. ANSWERS
1. C. All of the above
2. B. Dependency Theory
3. C. All of the above
4. B. The only nations in the world are businesses.
5. A. Imposing his cultural values on others.
6. False
7. True
8. False
9. True
10. False

26. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Baran, Stanley J. I d uc tio n to M s s Co m m unic a tio n
ntro a
M d ia Lite ra c y a nd Culture . New York: Mcgraw-Hill,
e
2012.
endnote: Stanley J. Baran, I d uc tio n to M s s
ntro a
Co m m unic a tio n M d ia Lite ra c y a nd Culture , (New York:
e
Mcgraw-Hill, 2012), 368-370.
in text: (Baran 2012)
 Chayefsky, Paddy. "Network." Recorded Novem 1976.
MGM. DVD
footnote: Chayefsky, Paddy, "Network," Written by
Paddy Chayefsky, Novem 1976, DVD.
In text: (Chayefsky)
 Canby, Vincent. "Chayefsky’s 'Network' Bites Hard As a
Film Satire of TV Industry." N w Yo rk Tim e s , November
e
15, 1976.
in text: (Canby 1976)

27. BIBLIOGRAPHY CONT.
 Chicago Headline Club Chapter of Society for
Professional Journalists, "Ethics Advice Line for
Journalists." Accessed December 4,2012.
http://www.ethicsadvicelineforjournalists.org.
 Dirks, Tim. AMC, "filmsite." Last modified 2012.
Accessed November 30, 2012. www.filmsite.org.
 Ebert, Roger. "Network." Chic a g o Sun-Tim e s , January
01, 1976. rogerebert.suntimes.com (accessed
December 1, 2012).
In text: (Ebert 1976)
 Rosenbaum, Jonathan. "Network." Chic a g o Re a d e r,
February 22, 2003.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/network
(accessed November 30, 2012).