The Newsroom Season 3 [TV Review]

Sunday the 14th of December, 2014, was the season and series finale of The Newsroom. This was Aaron Sorkin's most recent television masterpiece, and masterpiece it was.

This was a special television series, as it discussed something of great import and did it in a very human way. So here is my rating for season 3 in its entirety.

5 out of 5 stars

This third and final season takes the cast full circle, back to their beginnings. It also focuses on some touchy issues, as every season does.

I'm actually having some trouble describing how fantastic The Newsroom is. The third season was short, only six episodes, but it told a powerful story about conviction, free speech, and journalistic integrity. The strongest theme is the one about journalistic integrity - the rights of the journalist to maintain the confidentiality of their sources, and the burden of accountability.

Several times during the season real journalists butt heads with citizen journalists. Here is where accountability is paramount. The citizen journalists are not held accountable. Their stories do not have to be accurate, civil, or even factual. With real news journalists they are accountable for their stories, there are repercussions if they fail to present the truth. This was a theme from the 2nd season. Journalists can ruin their reputation quickly if they do not fact-check their stories. Citizen journalists live behind anonymity, and have no accountability. (A good thing all I have to deal with are my own opinions).

This show is about what it means to actually do the news.
Not as entertainment.
Not as a party political platform.
Not for profit.
Not for clicks.
But because people need to know the news.
People need to be intelligently informed.

This show is an indictment against the modern 24hr cable news channels. It is an indictment against news programs that call themselves 'entertainment' and work as the mouth piece of a political party. It shines a light on the disastrous practices of putting twitter comments and Facebook comments on a news program - that is not news, never was.

The Newsroom was on a quest to civilize the modern media.

If somehow you have never seen The Newsroom, then here a short clip from the very first episode of season one. There may be no single greater selling point than Will McAvoy's opening rant, the tone of the series is set.

Just click here.