Has the HBO series "Newsroom" been influencing the media?

[Blue Belle]

26. I don't know how much it has been influencing the media...

Dan Rather, Bill Moyers, Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow were the Newsroom before the Newsroom was a sparkle in Sorkin's eye - and the only ones still around now are Moyers and Maddow. I do notice that every time I read a review or a recap of the show, the critic writing it almost always trashes the premise. It has always been my impression that they do this because Sorkin is pulling back the curtain on how corporations influence what the media pays attention to. I think that in this era of the media being toadies to their corporate overlords, we need shows like the Newsroom to illustrate what the world might be like in a universe where journalists still rely on principles. The good news for the Newsroom is that their ratings seem to be ticking up despite all the bad reviews from the critics. To quote another Sorkin character on West Wing, "If they 're shooting at you, you know you must be doing something right".