To say that I am conflicted when it comes to HBO's The Newsroom is a giant understatement. On one hand, I loved The West Wing with all of my heart. There is something really beautiful about the rhythmic way Aaron Sorkin writes dialogue. However, this show came along and tried take all of that away from me. Maybe I grew up and started seeing the problematic elements for what they were. Maybe there's not enough distance between the news stories that the Sorkin show covers and today. The third and final season of the The Newsroom will take place in 2013. It was hard enough for me to relive the secondhand embarrassment of Occupy Wall Street, the annoyance of the Romney Campaign, and the tragedy that was Trayvon Martin's murder in the second season. Yet here I am, ready to do it all over again with last year's news. What 2013 headlines will The Newsroom cover next? The tornado that devastated Oklahoma? Those women in Ohio that escaped their kidnapper? I'm sure the name Edward Snowden will get thrown around.
It's possible that only a few of these stories will be covered. According to HBO's press release for the third season, The Newsroom will "turn its attention inward, focusing on a series of internal events at ACN that rock the very foundation of the network." However some major news events of the year will surely occur in the background. Let's take a look at what we know we'll see and what we think could get covered.
The Boston Marathon Bombing
We know for a fact that the season premiere, titled "Boston," will tackle this. So that places the start of the season in April 2013. I'm interested in this is because of the "investigation" that Reddit attempted during this awful week. Sorkin is a known hater of the Internet and I would like his thoughts on how social media tried to take on investigative reporting instead of just live-reporting events. Chris Rock joked about the marathon in his SNL monologue last Saturday and was met with mixed reviews, to put it lightly. I don't have high hopes that Aaron Sorkin will fare much better.
White House Correspondent's Dinner
According to the press release, Charlie Skinner (Sam Waterston and his bowtie) will attend this yearly event. Conan O'Brien was the comedian that year. I'm sure a lot of arrogant jokes will come of that. Did you know that Conan O'Brien went to Harvard? You're about to.
"Obamacare" Launches
This is speculation. 2013 was when the Obamacare website launched and we learned what we already know: old people can't use the Internet and websites with mass amounts of traffic need mass amounts of support. That's like, physics or something. Any fan of HBO programming already knows this when they try to watch True Detective or Game of Thrones on HBOGo and the server crashes. As I mentioned above, you know who really hates the Internet? Sorkin. So, this should be fun and snarky.
The Royal Baby
The first one, of course. Prince George of Cambridge was born in July 2013 and Americans surprised ourselves with how excited we got about another country's royals. We hadn't even heard the Lorde song yet. I'm going to take a swing and say that this news story will be a source of tension between Will and Mac. She's super British. He's super American. Neal has a British accent. He will probably step in there with a third opinion, and a lively debate will ensue! Huzzah!
Washington Navy Yard Shooting
Considering that the timeline for the season skips past the Sandy Hook Massacre, any attempts for the ACN crew to cover gun control could be framed around the Washington Navy Yard Shooting, which took thirteen lives and happened in late September of 2013.
The Government Shutdown
Remember that? We did that. Well, the Tea Party/Republicans did that. Just over a year ago, the Federal Government shut down for almost a month in response to the Affordable Care Act. There was more tension than usual. It may have caused a slight baby boom? Hindsight plays a lot into how these events are adapted on The Newsroom, so we'll see how everything plays out on Sunday night!
Images: Melissa Moseley/HBO, Getty(3)
