I went to see “State of Play” yesterday mainly because I’m a sucker for anything with Russell Crowe in it, and I love newspaper-themed movies. (Professional hazard, I guess.)  I thoroughly enjoyed the movie despite its stereotypical and sensationalized depictions of journalism, but that’s not why I’m bringing it up. This isn’t a review.

I think the movie provides a good discussion point for some issues facing the news media today. Don’t worry. I won’t give away the story. Although if you hate knowing anything about a movie you intend to see, you may want to stop reading.

The part of the movie that captures my attention is a subplot depicting the tense relationship between bloggers and “traditional” journalists. In the movie, young bloggers work in the same building but beyond an invisible wall from the traditional journalists. The traditional newsroom looks crowded, dirty and tired, and the reporters use computers that my newspaper retired a decade ago. The online newsroom is like a clean room in comparison, and the computer equipment rocks, we’re told.

Russell Crowe plays the traditional journalist, a jaded, badly dressed, long-haired rebel with a bottle of Scotch in his desk and apparently no life outside the newsroom. Rachel McAdams is the newbie blogger, crisp, well-dressed and green. She asks him for help; he resists. They are leery of each other, but in the end they work together. The story they report ends up in print — before it makes it online.  ”When people read this story, they should have newsprint on their hands,” explains McAdams’ character.

Here’s what I think we can learn from all this — if we can indeed learn from a fictional movie:

• The divide must end: This movie paints a clear print versus online scenario, which in the end works because the print wins. We must remember. This is a movie. Sure, many may wish the mighty rollling press shown in the movie will wipe out the big bad online world, but that’s not the reality. Online will win, and print will die or at least get even sicker, so the two sides need to work together. Us versus them is over. We must think of ourselves — print and online — as a we.
• No more two newsrooms: Some newspapers’ online operations are physically separate from their traditional newsrooms. Some have an invisible but nearly impenetrable wall, such as the one in the ”Washington Globe” of “State of Play.” Either way, the walls must come down. I’d advocate everyone in one building, working together. But even if that can’t happen physically, it must metaphorically. Every journalist should be an online journalist. There shouldn’t be print people and online folks in one news operation. Each one should have one name, journalist. It’s easier to understand the “other” group when you meet the individuals within the group. To do that, both sides must talk to each other.
• Investigative reporting cannot die: Now I won’t advocate some of the “reporting” methods used in the movie that were over the top in my mind. But I do applaud the movie’s depiction of journalists as skeptical, tenacious, and not easily duped. That’s a good lesson for bloggers, journalists — anyone trying to spread information in our evolving media world.  The movie raised some serious ethical issues regarding relationships with sources that I won’t go into because I don’t want to give too much away. Suffice to say: It’s invaluable to journalists to know where to get information and have strong source relationships, but there is a limit that should not be crossed. However, the movie showed journalists’ contribution to society by exposing wrong. We need to keep doing that. 
• We must be online first: In the movie, it was portrayed as a source of pride that the big story didn’t go online first. The newspaper waited till the reporter and blogger team had the full picture for the print. It worked in the movie, but in reality, we can’t do that. I’m not advocating printing rumors or unsubstantiated information. Journalists neede to be accurate and careful and well-sourced. But to hold a story the magnitude of the one in “State of Play” for the next day’s edition, rather that blow it out online — that just won’t work in today’s world.

I’d love to hear what you think.