{"id":1220,"date":"2012-07-10T00:23:39","date_gmt":"2012-07-10T06:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=1220"},"modified":"2012-07-10T00:29:59","modified_gmt":"2012-07-10T06:29:59","slug":"jta-no-business-like-the-news-business-aaron-sorkin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/jta-no-business-like-the-news-business-aaron-sorkin\/","title":{"rendered":"JTA: No Business Like the News Business &#8211; Aaron Sorkin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(L.A. Jewish Journal) &#8212; <strong>Aaron Sorkin<\/strong>, the playwright, television writer and Oscar-winning screenwriter of \u201cThe Social Network,\u201d is causing a stir with his new HBO series, \u201cThe Newsroom,\u201d about the inside antics of a cable news show and its commentary on American journalism. Sorkin\u2019s \u201cThe West Wing\u201d and \u201cSports Night,\u201d among others, have earned the veteran show creator a reputation for intense examinations of institutional milieus \u2014 government, sports and now the news industry. He\u2019s also distinguished himself through his style of writing, famous for its prolix dialogue, withering wit and moral idealism, for which he ranks among the most literary of Hollywood writers.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1221\" style=\"width: 224px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/aaron-sorkin.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1221\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1221 lazyload\" title=\"Aaron Sorkin\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/aaron-sorkin-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/aaron-sorkin-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/aaron-sorkin.jpg 286w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 214px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 214\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1221\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1221\" title=\"Aaron Sorkin\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/aaron-sorkin-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/aaron-sorkin-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/aaron-sorkin.jpg 286w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1221\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aaron Sorkin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In an e-mail interview, Sorkin expounded on the journalism he trusts, how he copes with bad reviews and the unique rewards of having a daughter.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Danielle Berrin<\/strong>: \u201cThe Newsroom\u201d is an indictment, specifically, of cable TV news but makes broader commentary about the culture of American journalism. What led to your disappointment in news media or at least provoked you enough to want to write a show about it?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aaron Sorkin<\/strong>: I believe that \u201cThe Newsroom\u201d is no more an indictment of cable news than \u201cThe West Wing\u201d was an indictment of the Clinton and Bush White Houses. The show is a very romantic and idealistic take on a group of people trying to figure out how to do the news well in the face of market forces as well as their own personal entanglements. I like to write fantasies set against the backdrop of the real world.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DB<\/strong>: When you want to be informed, what sources do you rely on? What people or publications do you most trust?<\/p>\n<p><strong>AS<\/strong>: For breaking news, I go to CNN. I like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal op-ed writers. I\u2019ll listen to <strong>Rush<\/strong> [<strong>Limbaugh<\/strong>] for a few minutes in the morning to try to figure out why half the country hates the other half so much, and I like the gang at MSNBC. I think all the Sunday shows are helpful and compelling, but if I was forced to only trust one person \u2014 and of course I\u2019m not \u2014 it would be <strong>Brian Williams<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DB<\/strong>: There have been some harsh reviews about \u201cThe Newsroom.\u201d The New Yorker\u2019s <strong>Emily Nussbaum<\/strong> wrote, \u201c \u2018The Newsroom\u2019 gets so bad so quickly that I found my jaw dropping,\u201d and <strong>Maureen Ryan<\/strong> wrote on Huffington Post that she found it \u201cobvious and self-congratulatory,\u201d \u201cmanipulative and shrieky.\u201d But, these same writers use words like \u201cSorkinese\u201d and \u201cSorkinian\u201d to describe the show\u2019s style, which indicates their perception that your writing has established a new film and television lexicon \u2014 a high compliment. At this point in your career, how seriously do you take reviews of your work? How do they affect you personally?<\/p>\n<p><strong>AS<\/strong>: My writing isn\u2019t everyone\u2019s cup of tea. I wish it was, but as Hiram Roth would say, this is the business I\u2019ve chosen. One of the nice things about being on HBO is that the whole season is written and shot before the first episode airs. That schedule removes the temptation to adjust how you\u2019re writing in order to change the minds of your critics \u2014 whether they\u2019re professional critics or your brother-in-law.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DB<\/strong>: Your work is noted for being high-minded, idea-driven and zeitgeist-y. But it also has romance and relationship. Which area interests or concerns you more: matters of the heart or the head?<\/p>\n<p><strong>AS<\/strong>: In \u201cThe Newsroom,\u201d as well as in some other things I\u2019ve written, matters of the head and matters of the heart are often the same thing. My characters tend to be hyper-communicative. There are exceptions \u2014 <strong>Mark Zuckerberg<\/strong> for instance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DB<\/strong>: During a recent interview on \u201cThe Today Show,\u201d you talked about your early discomfort being in the public eye and how your arrest for drug possession forced you to be more open about your image. Do you still feel you have to play a certain role for your audience? Or have you become more comfortable allowing your public image to reflect your true nature?<\/p>\n<p><strong>AS<\/strong>: As a writer, it would be best if nobody knew anything about me. I don\u2019t want to get in between the audience and what\u2019s on the screen or the stage. But, as you point out, my addiction and arrest in 2001 was a bell I can\u2019t un-ring. I\u2019ve seen far worse consequences of drug addiction, so I\u2019m not going to complain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DB<\/strong>: You told The New York Times, \u201cIf writing is going well, I\u2019m happy. If writing isn\u2019t going well, there is nothing that is going to make me happy. Except my 11-year-old daughter, who always makes me happy.\u201d What has surprised you most about being a parent? Has having a daughter changed or deepened your understanding of women?<\/p>\n<p><strong>AS<\/strong>: Being a father is the only thing that lives up to the hype. Whether we\u2019re doing homework, eating breakfast, playing Starburst hockey \u2014 just trust me \u2014 kicking around a soccer ball or anything else, I feel like I\u2019m exactly where I\u2019m supposed to be, doing exactly what I\u2019m supposed to be doing. As for understanding women, I go on the assumption that not all women are the same. I gave up trying to understand the women in my life a long time ago, and now I just try to please them. Much better results.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DB<\/strong>: When asked about the <strong>Steve Jobs<\/strong> biopic you will soon write, you ruminated on the theme a bit and then said, \u201cNow all I have to do is turn that into three acts with an intention, obstacle, exposition, inciting action, reversal, climax and denouement, and make it funny and emotional, and I\u2019ll be in business.\u201d Is your writing process more an adherence to structure or an innate, streaming sense of drama?<\/p>\n<p><strong>AS<\/strong>: I have to cling to the rules of drama \u2014 intention and obstacle. Somebody has to want something, and something has to be standing in the way of their getting it. If I don\u2019t have that nailed down, I\u2019ll be fingerpainting.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DB<\/strong>: Aside from obvious things like wealth and that Oscar, in terms of your own self-understanding, what\u2019s been the best benefit of success?<\/p>\n<p><strong>AS<\/strong>: With all respect to <strong>Lou Gehrig<\/strong>, I\u2019m the luckiest man in the world. Aside from getting to be my daughter\u2019s father, I get to earn a living doing exactly what I love doing. That\u2019s winning the jackpot.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DB<\/strong>: If you were ever to take a break from the Hollywood grind, how would you spend your time?<\/p>\n<p><strong>AS<\/strong>: Beating up fifth-grade boys who are checking out my kid.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"JTA%3A%20No%20Business%20Like%20the%20News%20Business%20-%20Aaron%20Sorkin\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[245,8790,8788,246,247],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1220"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1225,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220\/revisions\/1225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}