Peacock’s new Workplace spinoff, The Paper, debuted to stable evaluations and stunning confidence from the streamer, which has already renewed it for a second season. Whereas its connection to The Workplace is basically tangential (past the presence of Oscar Núñez reprising his function), Peacock is banking on the lingering goodwill of The Workplace followers who cherished the unique collection or binged the entire thing through the pandemic, advertising and marketing it as a direct continuation.
The connection to The Workplace is instantly obvious, however The Paper can also be harking back to a special collection that was additionally initially developed as an Workplace spinoff: Parks and Recreation. Past their related Midwest settings, The Paper makes an attempt to say the significance of native journalism in the identical approach that Parks and Rec stumped for native authorities, shedding mild on the significance of an typically thankless and difficult discipline. And it might be even more durable than what Parks and Rec pulled off throughout its run.
How ‘The Paper’ Sticks up for a Struggling Establishment
It is no secret that the sector of journalism is in a tough spot proper now, and this goes double for native papers. Native shops, notably in smaller communities, have been shuttering left and proper in recent times, and The Paper would not shrink back from the fairly bleak actuality of the scenario. When Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson) joins the struggling Toledo Reality Teller as its new editor-in-chief, he is confronted with a paper that is a shell of its former self, publishing insubstantial clickbait articles and a handful of reports tales from larger shops.
The collection locations Ned within the Leslie Knope place, an idealistic true believer who makes an attempt to encourage his fellow employees to care concerning the significance of what they do. Ned has many noble, romanticized concepts concerning the function of native journalism in a neighborhood, together with holding its leaders accountable and talking out about points that instantly have an effect on folks’s lives. Parks and Rec‘s exploration of the struggles and rewards of public service coated related floor, displaying that, whereas the work was hardly ever straightforward and other people aren’t typically as grateful as they need to be, it is nonetheless work that is value doing.
Parks and Rec is usually credited with inspiring folks to concentrate to and put money into their native authorities. Hopefully, The Paper would possibly inspire viewers to subscribe to their native paper (in the event that they’re fortunate sufficient to nonetheless have one). Whereas the collection is usually bluntly trustworthy concerning the challenges concerned, Ned’s idealism is infectious, and the present appears to agree that native information protection is a vital a part of a thriving neighborhood.
Why ‘The Paper’ Has a Tougher Job Than ‘Parks and Rec’
Making a collection concerning the significance of native authorities was doubtless no picnic, however The Paper is dealing with an much more tough surroundings than Parks and Rec did. Parks and Recreation ran from 2009 to 2015, through the Obama administration, a time when many individuals nonetheless held some optimism in direction of their authorities. Whereas there was nonetheless loads of opposition, anti-government rhetoric hadn’t but infiltrated the mainstream within the methods it will only a few years later. Again then, it wasn’t an excessive amount of of a leap to think about that folks in authorities would possibly really care about their communities and have their greatest pursuits at coronary heart.
2025, nevertheless, is a a lot totally different actuality. Whereas The Paper is not involved with the ins and outs of native authorities, mistrust within the discipline of journalism can also be at an all-time excessive, following years of politicians casting doubt on the legitimacy of reports shops and the rising drawback of disinformation, which has been accelerated by the evolution of generative AI. Add to that the equally struggling enterprise facet of the equation, the place there’s little marketplace for the sort of boots-on-the-ground journalism that Ned is attempting to revive, and the employees of the Toledo Reality Teller has their work reduce out for them in additional methods than one. These issues have critical real-world implications. Newspapers, even small native ones, can converse fact to energy and expose corruption, which turns into a lot more durable to do when a neighborhood loses its information protection.
Nonetheless, the collection argues that each one hope is not misplaced. It is actually actual concerning the challenges, but it surely finds a thread of optimism that picks proper up the place Parks and Rec left off. The Paper argues that native print journalism is not utterly useless so long as persons are prepared to dedicate their time and put money into their communities, doing the arduous and infrequently unappreciated work of reporting on what is going on on, and never afraid to be a thorn within the facet of these in energy. Whether or not it should seize an viewers in the long run stays to be seen (grabbing TV viewers can also be a lot more durable lately), however just like the employees of the Reality Teller, The Paper is doing essential, thankless work. The Paper is streaming now on Peacock.