Good news: ‘The Paper’ finds belly laughs and beauty in fledgling world of local media

By Sandra Gonzalez, CNN

Los Angeles (CNN) — In Peacock’s “The Paper,” the fictional documentary crew who once chronicled the lives of office staff at Dunder Mifflin, a paper company trying to exist in an increasingly paperless world, has set their sights on another dwindling industry — local news.

At the Toledo Truth Teller, the crew finds Ned Sampson, an anti-Michael Scott if there ever was one, as far as bosses go. A newly-appointed editor-in-chief with little actual journalism experience, Ned comes from privilege, is almost hyper vigilant about not offending others and holds meetings with his staff where they actually discuss work. Imagine that!

The point where the two characters intersect, however, will be more important to viewers hopeful that this TV spin-off has legs: Ned, like the fellow former salesman at the center of that other show, is the kind of guy who leads with his heart and tries to do right by his people. In other words, you might find yourself afraid of how much you love him.

When the audience meets Ned, he’s embarking on a big change in his life – even if star Domhnall Gleeson admitted that his taking on a big journalism job with little credentials is “an immensely stupid move” for the character. But Ned’s belief that the newspaper is an essential service to the community drives him to take the leap from toilet paper sales.

While researching for the role, Gleeson visited Ohio newsrooms and a college newspaper. There, he told CNN, “is where I found Ned’s optimism.”

“Yes, it’s in an incredibly tricky situation at the moment, but people are doing the work. People are doing real journalism, people are still paying for journalism and for the truth — not as many as used to but it’s still happening — and the really important work is still going on and people are still getting into it even though there’s so much against them at the moment,” he said. “I find that incredibly inspiring.”

Creator Greg Daniels found his first nugget for the show’s concept in what he thinks was a radio program about so-called ghost newspapers, local publications that retain a familiar name but not the staffs or standards needed for adequate coverage.

“That seemed like a good subject matter (for the documentary crew) and like it wouldn’t overlap too much with stories that we had done on ‘The Office,’ because journalism is its own thing and it’s not exactly the same as general office work,” he said.

Fellow executive producer and creator Michael Koman said he could feel the contraction of the local press “in the air” in his native New York for some time. Even in a city that has flourishing newspapers, “so many had gone away.”

“You could get the sense that anybody trying to revive a paper of that size would have their work cut out for them,” he said.

And, indeed, Ned does.

‘Doing it, despite the pessimism’

The staff at the Truth Teller is largely made up of volunteers from other areas of the paper’s parent business — save for an alum of military publication “Stars and Stripes” named Mare (Chelsea Frei), a managing editor named Esmeralda (Sabrina Impacciatore) who is a master of click bait and a few others.

“Office” alum Oscar Nuñez, reprising his role from the original series, is among the volunteers looped into the Truth Teller’s efforts.

When the staff gets going, the stories they pursue aren’t exactly hard-hitting – think scammy business practices and unjustly closed public bathrooms – but watching the staff explore the correct and wrong ways to dig into potential leads is part of the charm and comedy.

“The characters are doing it despite the pessimism around them, and I think maybe that’s really cool – when you see somebody who’s like, ‘Yeah, I know it’s a terrible time to be in the news business, but I’m still doing it ‘cause I care.’” Daniels said. “And there are a lot of real people doing that.”

The characters’ noted inexperience leaves a little room for getting journalistic aspects of the show not exactly right on screen, but Koman jokes that he’s ready for the critiques, particularly from members of the real life media.

“I did not think about it when we started, but eventually I realized that it would be like making ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ if it was gonna be reviewed by doctors,” he said, drawing laughs from Daniels. “I just accept anything – just let us have it.”

For her part, Frei, whose character Mare is an asset to Ned and the newsroom, cared deeply about getting the details right. She went into the project already keenly aware of the importance of local news. Her grandmother Helen Rubenstein, who died in 2011, worked for The Andover Townsman for 25 years so, she said, “I feel like local journalism is kind of like in my blood.”

Her parents were also reliant on the efforts of local reporters – particularly those at the Palisadian Post – when their community was ravaged by the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year. While their home is still standing, it sustained damages that have left them unable to move back in for the time being.

“The Palisadian Post is one of the only places that’s really giving information that they’re getting on a daily basis – and that’s not information you can find online,” she said.

On the show, Mare is a veteran who worked for “Stars and Stripes” but has had her reporter spirit somewhat broken. Ned reinvigorates it, and they bond over their shared passion for news.

“When other businesses close, you’re aware of it and you don’t like to see it, but when a newspaper closes, there’s something poignant about it. It’s a field that a person can have very romantic feelings about,” Koman said.

The show pays tribute to that feeling in scenes throughout, but perhaps none more than a flashback scene in the pilot that shows the Truth Teller in its prime – a newsroom brimming with reporters, typewriters clacking, a printing press running at full speed, a deadline at hand.

The scene was expensive to film because of the extras they had to employ and props they had to source, but it was necessary to effectively set up Ned’s task at hand, Daniels and Koman said.

“It’s important to both see what that room was once like, and to kind of get a glimpse into Ned’s mind of how he pictures this job,” Koman said. “The thing that drives him through the episode is that when he looks at that room, that’s what he sees.”

The question now is what viewers will see in “The Paper.” Will they find a show worthy of sharing DNA with one of the most beloved comedies of all time?

“All we can do is do the work,” Gleeson said. “We’ve made the show and now we’re talking about the show and we try to say, ‘Look, if you’re looking for the exact same show, you’re not gonna get that.’ And that’s why ‘The Office’ is still streaming, you know what I mean? That’s there for the people who want just that. We’re slightly different. We’re a different kind of show.”

“The Paper” seemingly has the support of several members of “The Office” cast, with Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey all visiting set at various points during production, according to Daniels.

It’s worth noting that Gleeson has also crossed paths with Carell and Krasinski on other projects. Or, as Daniels hilariously put it, he “kept Steve in a basement (in ‘The Patient’) and he shot Krasinski in the ‘Fountain of Youth.’”

More seriously, Daniels said “there is a lot of mutual respect between the casts” and “I hope a lot of friendships happen from that.”

The office is, after all, a pretty great place to make friends.

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