Documentary filmmaker Rick Goldsmith came to Columbia Journalism School on March 28 to present his latest work, “Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink.” The film exposes the role of hedge funds in the precipitous decline of local newsrooms in the United States.
Philip S. Balboni Professor of Local Journalism Juan Manuel Benítez moderated the discussion that followed the screening.
“Stripped for Parts” portrays the David-and-Goliath battle waged in the last decade by journalists fighting for their profession and their communities. Hedge funds trying to profit from an industry in decline have been behind the shrinking of newsrooms and the closing of many publications across the country.
“They have the money, they have the power, they have the lack of accountability going for them,” Goldsmith said. “And the journalists have themselves.”
The film follows in detail the case of Manhattan-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which today owns newspapers like The Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post and New York Daily News.
“It’s not just the internet. It’s not just changing different demographics,” Goldsmith said. “There’s an outfit that’s wrecking local journalism intentionally.”
Goldsmith thought about this film as akin to climate change. While the latter has been largely ignored for decades, society started paying attention to it only when people started talking about it. The same is happening with local journalism.
“The things that were depicted here show how they’re waking up America to the problem,” he said.
The film also highlights the birth of new digital newsrooms trying to keep local journalism alive. Goldsmith believes these new outlets are doing a better job at serving diverse communities than legacy newspapers did in the past.
“They are reforming and reinventing journalism to actually serve the people,” Goldsmith said. “They’re educating the public about what’s being lost,” he concluded. “And maybe this film is doing the same thing.”
This is Goldsmith’s third film with a journalism theme, after following “Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press,” (1996) and “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” (2009).
Francesca is an Italian reporter covering politics for City Newsroom. She has reported in print, web, audio and video. Francesca speaks three languages.
