The shadow of 'The Office' enters a newspaper's newsroom

Those nostalgic for The office They now have a successor on the Sky Showtime platform with a series created by one of its authors, Greg Daniels. It lacks the brilliance and acerbic wit of the original series, but it does revive the mockumentary narrative strategy to portray a work environment marked by decadence and the struggle for survival. The paper The story is set in the newsroom of a struggling local newspaper in Toledo, Ohio. The protagonist is Ned Sampson, who arrives at the Toledo Truth Teller because he's its new editor. He lands the job thanks to family connections and as a reward for excelling as head of toilet paper sales at the parent company. A blatant nod to the American media industry, where the newspaper business has been absorbed by large corporate groups that produce both toilet paper and news. Both companies will coexist, sharing space and some of the staff. Beyond the comedy, the series is thus set against the real-world backdrop of the crisis in local journalism in the United States, with its loss of social influence, drastic staff reductions, and absolute dependence on the most mundane content from news agencies. Ned, an idealist passionate about journalism, wants to revive the newspaper by returning to the most classic methods: print editing and street reporters in search of the news. The protagonist will try to motivate a group of disillusioned office workers who, until now, have survived by dragging useless viral news stories across the web, selecting them based solely on length. The newsroom of Toledo Truth Teller It offers a range of stereotypical and underqualified characters, with constant internal tensions that inevitably remind us of the spirit of The officealthough the tone and types of conflicts are very different. In a way, in The paper It's as if the bitterness of The officeIt would have been diluted by the condescension and tenderness of the local newspaper's editorial staff in the series After life by Ricky Gervais, who also serves as a producer. Ned Sampson will have to contend with the rivalry of his former editor, an Italian ex-contestant on a reality show. reality showA manager more concerned with personal gain than the newspaper's figures, and well-meaning reporters incapable of realizing that the flames in the building next door are a major news story.

The series' opening sequence is endearing. Through vintage imagery, it ironically reminds us where traditional journalism has ended up: newspaper for wrapping sandwiches, absorbing cat pee, cleaning windows, and protecting freshly mopped floors. However, the music triggers a wave of nostalgia for 90s television series. The paper It does not intend to make any deep or complex reflection on journalism, but it does make a hyperbolic portrait of the current profession and its miseries in order to laugh at the current situation we have to live through.