Folding Back "Page One"

The New York Times' TV & digital media reporter Brian Stelter, 26, may be ahead of the online curve but he knows the value of newspaper subscribers and "old fashioned reporting."  


Earlier this month Brian sat down in Seattle with my pal Warren Etheredge (the Brian Lamb of movies) to chat about the Page One documentary, trusting major networks & local news gatherers, and the importance of Twitter, aka "crack for media junkies." 


The High Bar w/ Warren Etheredge & Brian Stelter from The High Bar on Vimeo.

Page One: Inside the New York Times

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

I was in my senior year of college in Dover, Delaware studying & learning how to produce media when September 11th happened. 


After three days glued to the tube, a friend had to pry me away. There was no new news. I was traumatized again and again watching the scenes replay. 


And that began my news blackout. I couldn't watch or read or consume anymore, didn't know who I could trust. Certainly not the New York Times. 


I was dismayed with media in general by graduation. After two commercial radio internships where I learned that most DJ's in America no longer produce or program but push buttons for minimum wage,  I was at a loss as to what to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to be a communicator, but there was no place for me in the media. 


So I made videos. In 2003-2004, I discovered the 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle where I volunteered in exchange for equipment rentals and classes. 

I found Warren Etheredge, who took it upon himself to make movie audiences smarter because, as he claims on his website, "Smarter audiences make a better world!"


I started learning, living, paying attention. I went out to public events, like a Howard Dean speech, and then read about it the next day in the paper. Sometimes what I saw didn't match what the reporter saw. Who was more right? 


Then I watched Control Room. Ever since I've been convinced that if you have something worth communicating, say it in a video. 


You can do it independent of corporate media, and it's the best way to get Americans to pay attention. A great video is almost as a good as experiencing life first hand. 


So by now I've mostly forgiven the New York Times. (Judith Miller, not so much.) It's a company, an institution, which I tend to think can lead to inherent wrong doing. But the individuals behind it are damn fine. And right now that institution facilitates them being at their best.  


Page One: Inside the New York Times is playing at Tampa Theatre through Thursday.