The Top 10 Films About Journalism (LINK)
February 12th 2008 09:20
Recently the Gawker compiled a list of the 10 films ‘that made you want to be a journalist’ and the idea of a list dedicated to the films, which either feature a journalist/newspaper man or comment about the media industry, was one that struck me as very specific and very interesting.
As a writer and journalism graduate whose favourite thing in the world is watching films I was naturally curious about seeing the films selected for the list. Having then read list and realising that there were some stunning films left of by the Gawker I then decided to come up with my own list.
The title of the Gawker list is, ‘the movies that made you want to be a journalist’ but really when you see the films featured on the list and the ones that I featured on mine you will see that they are generally films which look at the media and the journalism profession as an industry of corruption, vainity and moral bankruptcy.
Citizen Kane, La Dolce Vita, Sweet Smell of Success and even a film like Broadcast News - famed for its glorification of news corporations – all feature lead characters that suffer terrible fates and become corrupted by power.
Journalism like any profession of power (lawyer, politician, police officer etc) has been the inspiration for many brilliant films and I’m sure the inspiration for many successful journalistic careers. However, there are still very few quality films made about the media industry that make you want to sign up for a reporters job with News Limited.
Anyway, here is my top 10
1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. La Dolce Vita (1960)
3. His Girl, Friday (1940)
4. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
5. All the President’s Men (1976)
6. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
7. Network (1976)
8. Good Night and Good Luck (2005)
9. The Killing Fields (1984)
10. Almost Famous (2000)
the gawker list is linked above - have a look
The Greatest Film About the Media
As a writer and journalism graduate whose favourite thing in the world is watching films I was naturally curious about seeing the films selected for the list. Having then read list and realising that there were some stunning films left of by the Gawker I then decided to come up with my own list.
The title of the Gawker list is, ‘the movies that made you want to be a journalist’ but really when you see the films featured on the list and the ones that I featured on mine you will see that they are generally films which look at the media and the journalism profession as an industry of corruption, vainity and moral bankruptcy.
Citizen Kane, La Dolce Vita, Sweet Smell of Success and even a film like Broadcast News - famed for its glorification of news corporations – all feature lead characters that suffer terrible fates and become corrupted by power.
Journalism like any profession of power (lawyer, politician, police officer etc) has been the inspiration for many brilliant films and I’m sure the inspiration for many successful journalistic careers. However, there are still very few quality films made about the media industry that make you want to sign up for a reporters job with News Limited.
Anyway, here is my top 10
1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. La Dolce Vita (1960)
3. His Girl, Friday (1940)
4. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
5. All the President’s Men (1976)
6. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
7. Network (1976)
8. Good Night and Good Luck (2005)
9. The Killing Fields (1984)
10. Almost Famous (2000)
the gawker list is linked above - have a look
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Fantastic list of films, I'm a fan of all of them to varied degrees though All The Presidents Men and Network would be higher.
Off the top of my head I might add:
Billy Wilder's The Big Carnival
Oliver Stone's Salvador
Hunter S Thompson's Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas
Sam Fuller's Park Row