"Page One" promises a look inside the New York Times, but it's also focused on the question that looms large over the whole industry: how can print journalism sustain itself? It's a worthy question, and goodness knows the movie devotes plenty of time to the issue. And if you're on the side of legacy journalism, then revel in the film's best character, David Carr (print's staunchest defender). This guy's all teeth. It's a fun scene watching him shoot down an aggregator during a debate.But the movie's at its best when it's about the newsroom, and this is compelling stuff: decisions being made during the Wikileaks info dump, Iraq withdrawal, and the laying off o a great deal of the paper's workforce. You do get to be a fly on the wall, and during these scenes, it's good stuff.7/10

This is a well done documentary which subject is long overdue. Some well known truism should never be forgotten. Eliminate a professional, elite even, news organizations such as The Times and you are one step, the last one, to any semblance of democracy. Reporters in this documentary explain well that the web's various pseudo journalistic sites would not exist if it was not for the major newspapers such as the Times. None describe as eloquently as David Carr what the web media would become or look like if you took out all content, quotes and facts, originating from the New York Times; the result was striking.The documentary is also objective enough to site the major failings and risks of any major institution such as the Times; the articles on the case of weapons of mass destructions in Iraq by Judith Miller (Pulitzer Prize) and the series of fabricated articles by Jason Blair, to mention two important ones. The movie took the perspective of one department of the Times, to approach the subject, that of the Media Industry. So it provided us with a comprehensive view of the fate of newspapers and a glimpse of the future. I was certainly interested in getting information explaining how we are where we are with journalism today, not why, because who does not know that the web has meant the inevitable demise of newspapers as we knew them. I forgot who, in the film, said "information has never been free"; which explains how ludicrous it is to expect to get real journalism on the web for free, at least in depth reporting, because headlines are easy to make up, not so easy to include meat with that.If anything, the movie will make you reflect and you can come up with your own conclusions. Mine was simple: How can you pi** off so many people, politicians and political cults, celebrities and their hedonistic followers, religious organizations of all varieties and points of view, and not be absolutely necessary; you define a free society and country by the degree of freedom and independence its press enjoys. The Times has and is changing with the times.

Page One: Inside the New York Times is not a documentary about a day in the life of a newspaper. Instead, it is more social commentary from the New York Times' media desk about the current state of newspapers, their antagonizing relationship with news aggregators and social media, and a bit forlorn about how robust the New York Times used to be compared to their current staffing levels based on the combined loss of ad revenue and print subscriptions. The majority of this film focuses on the paper's media section, specifically on the cantankerous journalist David Carr, a former crack addict now social media watchdog. He frequently goes to conferences and events to defend his newspaper against social media sites who proclaim the death of news print and the inevitable rise of the internet news leviathan. Unfortunately for them, David Carr fights backs with some old common sense. In the most effective scene, he holds up a hardcopy of Newser's front page showing all of the news aggregated links on it. His next exhibit has all of the links cut out of it which were 'stolen' from the mainstream media making the Newser's front page look absolutely ridiculous and full of holes for all to see.Too bad for the film's audience though, David Carr comes across as more of an a**hole for most of the film and you welcome to other locales and issues the documentary focuses on when it's not on Carr. There are scenes of employee layoffs, contrite apologies about Judith Miller and Jayson Blair, and the continuing defense that without the large, networked mainstream media, these new social media / news aggregator sites would have nothing to link to on their websites. These professional at-home bloggers do not have bureaus in Baghdad, stringers in war zones, and in an amusing side bit, they do not have people following their hometown zoning boards either.Page One is effective at showing the audience that hardcopy newspapers are not dead yet and they still provide a considerable service to those who wish to remain informed. Regrettably, the film spends way too much time on David Carr and the media section which bogs down the film and makes the audience wait for the next segment not involving Carr.

As a long time reader of the New York Times, I was delighted to see that Page One was showing at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. Page One is a provocative film that explores the complexities of the new media landscape in which the New York Times now finds itself trying to compete and keep its head above water. It is one of the few films that I've seen that really provides the viewer with an inside look at how a major newspaper operates. While the film tends to be pro-New York Times by the very nature of the fact that it was made with their cooperation, it still comes off as fair portrait of America's paper of record. The film focuses in on the media division and how the Times is coping with new challenges from Wikileaks, online news sources, web logs, news aggregating websites, twitter, etc. The film clearly shows why we still need the "so-called" old media to provide the investigative journalism that is hard to find elsewhere. Newspapers – and especially the elite newspapers – remain a crucial element in our political culture in that they provide a check against abuse of power by both government and corporations. The internet new media still relies on old media for its reporting and is not equipped to replace it. Clearly new models for cooperation between new and old are needed that will allow mainstream media to continue to profitable. The NY Times is proud, magisterial, occasionally arrogant, and absolutely necessary. Like any old institution, it will survive if it continues to change and evolve for new times and technologies.Page One is part of an on-going conversation that the United States is having about how media will evolve in the age of the Internet. It is useful film for engaging the broader public in the conversation.