"The Newsroom" is to "The Wire" as Hollywood is to Reality

Discussing a story in the newsroom of HBO's The Wire.

A few weeks ago, journalists on CNN's Reliable Sources were discussing whether HBO's The Newsroom reflected the reality of life in a newsroom. The answer was, of course, no: it heightened office drama and competition between journalists to make the show compelling. It also sounded a lot like another show created by Aaron Sorkin: The West Wing. While The West Wing brought the White House to life, it was also preachy and over the top, with characters alternating between witty commentary and in-depth policy analysis with more speed and poise than even the smartest of our nation's presidents.

I can't help but think of a show only a few years earlier on HBO that was by the far one of the best written dramas ever: The Wire. The show depicted Baltimore drug dealers, police officers, drug addicts, politicians, and journalists as real people, struggling to survive in their jobs and their private lives. In the fifth season, the show goes into the newsroom of The Baltimore Sun, and brings together the problems that have plagued print journalism in recent years: from a reporter who makes up news (think Jayson Blair of The New York Times), to an executive editor who cares more about winning a Pulitzer than naming a source. There are even layoffs at the paper, something that has plagued newspapers across the country for the past decade.

Still, the most accurate depictions of life in The Wire's newsroom come from the moments that are most ordinary. There's the scene where the city editor is worried that he might have made a mistake in a story, and calls the copy desk in the middle of the night to double check. Many reporters are guilty of being that neurotic; it's part of a job where accuracy is key and your work is displayed in front of the world every day. And there are the scenes where the city editor is in the newsroom: focused and analytical as he assigns and reads stories, and frustrated and angry as he sees the integrity of the paper begin to crumble. It's not as frenetic and sexy as The Newsroom, but then again, life never really is.   

Prison in Dubai for Extramarital Sex: Human Rights Violation, or Something Else?

Abraham Lincoln's honest and direct communication was key to his success as president.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a reputation as one of the more modern countries in the Arab world, and Dubai is known as one of the most beautiful cities in the Middle East. But recently, a Norweigan woman who reported being raped in Dubai was sentenced to 16 months in prison, according to a report by cnn.com. Among the charges brought against her: having sex outside of marriage. The Norwegian foreign minister has said the conviction of the woman, Marte Deborah Dalelv, is "contrary to fundamental human rights" and could hurt Norway's relationship with the UAE. The story goes on to cite other examples of the UAE's human rights record, including three other foreign women, who reported being raped there and were punished with fines or jail time. All of this got me thinking: why do we call them "human rights violations"?
  
Obviously, "human rights" are a convenient way to categorize any number of acts that we consider immoral and inhumane. They are a euphemism that makes acts like imprisoning rape victims seem like a legal and political issue. But at a certain point, I think they do a disservice. A little specificity can go a long way in communicating your values. Norwegian officials could put it this way: "This is an atrocity that threatens the safety of all women in Dubai. We cannot sit idly while foreign women report being raped and are then jailed for extramarital sex. If the charges against Marte Deborah Dalelv are not dropped immediately, our relationship will soon end."

From a diplomatic perspective, this might be a little too aggressive for Norway's taste. But from a communications perspective, sometimes you just have to be a little direct.