About the film
The film chronicles events since July 2006, when editor Jerry Roberts and five of his colleagues quit the Santa Barbara News-Press, citing owner and Co-publisher Wendy McCaw's abandonment of journalistic ethics, which McCaw denied. Since then, McCaw and dozens of her former staffers have been engaged in a fierce clash of wills that raises important national questions of journalistic ethics and media ownership.
“So if the publisher wants to be a William Randolph Hearst and start a war in Cuba, they can do it...”A. Barry Cappello, McCaw Attorney
“The broad responsibility is to serve the readership. Serve it, really serve it. Tell them what the hell is going on and how come... and be not only useful, but essential in making the community work.”Ben Bradlee, Editor Emeritus, Washington Post
—From the film
McCaw’s attorneys assert that she alone can decide how news is covered. The other side, represented by journalists and community leaders, says that journalism is a public trust, asserting that the publisher must keep out of the news operation.
The film chronicles the twists and turns of the resignations and firings, community protests, legal maneuverings on both sides, a precipitous drop in the paper’s circulation, a Teamsters' union vote, child pornography allegations, an NLRB trial, and numerous other events including a surprise ruling by the labor judge in late 2007.
Over 80 hours of footage were shot, including interviews with national leaders in journalism. Washington Post Editor Emeritus Ben Bradlee and journalist Ann Louise Bardach appear, as do former NBC News reporter Sander Vanocur, Ronald Reagan’s biographer Lou Cannon, Harvard's Alex Jones, Boston University's Lou Ureneck, and USC's Diane Winston. The film was shot in high definition in Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Washington DC and at many landmark locations in Santa Barbara.
Wendy McCaw’s Lawyer Reacts
“On the whole, you and your film mischaracterized and, in fact, defamed Mrs. McCaw, portraying her as one who would crush the First Amendment rights of her reporters. As is entirely too obvious, both from Judge Wilson's order and from the real facts of this case, Mrs. McCaw has done nothing but champion the First Amendment and the rights of owner/publishers. For this thankless pursuit, she has received nothing but character assassination at the hands of you and your film, in addition to the vitriolic statements directed at Mrs. McCaw by the subjects of your film.”
Barry Cappello, McCaw Attorney
June 11, 2008 letter to the producers
Educators: Download the free Citizen McCaw Study Guide (for your free 2 DVD Learning Resource)
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