The Newsroom, Season 3

Charlie:
He got knocked down. We didn't get taller.

Judge:
[Don asks to be excused from jury duty] All of these people have someplace else to be, I'm sure your network can do the news without you.

Don:
You're probably right but I'd hate my boss to find that out.

Judge:
Take your seat.

Don:
Uh-huh. [turns to one lawyer] Look, you don't want leaders on the jury, right? Anyone who can take charge during deliberations? I run a news broadcast five nights a week with a staff of sixty and I bend them to my will. [turns to other lawyer] Plus, I'm currently a defendant in two lawsuits being brought by the same person so, even though I bought your clients bagel-slicer at three a.m. and it nearly took my fingers off, there is simply no way in hell that I am finding for the plaintiff-

Judge:
Get out of here!

Don:
Thank you!

Will:
You know who did great this week? The police. The FBI. The DOJ. Homeland Security. In less than 100 hours, they found two needles in a haystack the size of the world. You know who sucked? Everybody else. Two times in 24 hours, law enforcement officials 00:19 had to publically disclose information before they wanted to because either a paper or website put someone's life in danger. So I'm not so easily surrendering to citizen journalists or citizen detectives.

Don:
I was gonna get the buffet.

Sloan:
I don't know why, if given a choice, anyone wouldn't get the buffet. Under what circumstance would you order off the menu?

Don:
If the menu had a five pound lobster and the buffet was soy themed, all you can eat assorted soy.

Sloan:
Here's what I need you to do...

Don:
Why does there have to be an assignment?

Sloan:
Hey, are we in this buffet thing together?

Don:
Yeah, we tell the waiter we're getting the buffet.

Sloan:
I did a Q&A in Shape about my healthy diet.

Don:
You lied.

Sloan:
In a big way. And I'm really hungry so I need you to get food for me and I'll get food for you.

Don:
Got it.

Sloan:
Crab claws, as far as the eye can see. Mushroom, Swiss cheese omelet. And I can't emphasize this enough, waffles.

Don:
Would you consider us a couple?

Sloan:
I don't understand the question...

Don:
Yeah you do cause this is exactly how I act in the same situation. Suddenly I pretend I'm stupid and hearing impaired. Do you consider us a couple?

Sloan:
Do you consider us a couple?

Don:
I do that too, Socrates.

Sloan:
We are...

Don:
Yup?

Sloan:
Okay, let me say...

Don:
Go ahead.

Sloan:
Here's what we are...

Don:
Bring it.

Sloan:
I love spending time with you.

Don:
H-ho, oh man...

Sloan:
Wait.

Don:
I can't believe I'm being Don Keefered.

Sloan:
You're not! I would never Don Keefer you.

Will:
How often are you sleeping when I'm talking to you at night?

Mackenzie:
I really have no way of knowing that.

Mackenzie:
Don't you know that anything that can be proven by courage and character you've proven to me a long time ago?

[As Jim and Maggie's flight to Cuba, which Edward Snowden failed to board, prepares to leave, and they discover his empty seat is opposite theirs]

Jim:
We had seats across the aisle from him. The honeymooners had two seats across the aisle from Edward Snowden. Boris and Natasha had the golden tickets. We'd have had him the whole flight, except for one thing -

Maggie:
[concurrently with him] He's not on the plane.

Jim:
You know where he is?

Maggie:
Probably back in the airport.

Jim:
Yeah. So we are flying 600 miles an hour away from the story... FUCK!!!

Maggie:
[after a short pause] Why didn't you call her?

Jim:
What?

Maggie:
Why didn't you call Hallie?

Jim:
You're a noodge, Maggie. You know that?

Maggie:
I'm just asking. If you really like her, it's a stupid thing to -

Jim:
[cutting her off] I like you... And I don't know why you don't know that.

Maggie:
[after a moment of shocked silence] Beca- Because if you wanted to be with me, you'd be with me.

Jim:
That's just... not at all true. You were with Don when I met you.

Maggie:
[angry] You never called me from New Hampshire.

Jim:
Yes I did.

Maggie:
No you didn't. Ever! And you knew I'd split up with Don, and you knew why - you went through Lisa, you went through Hallie, and you never called me from New Hampshire, so it's really not as obvious as you think it is, and it's also probably not true.

Jim:
You may be right... It's not, but it had... Potential. But the last thing was unambiguously wrong.

Maggie:
What language are you using?

Jim:
I do like you. I like you, and I'm glad I said it. Even though... now I wish I'd... said it at the end of a 13-hour flight.

Maggie:
Yeah, this is going to be uncomfortable. [goes to unbuckle her seat belt] I'm gonna switch seats with someone.

Jim:
I'll switch seats. I'll sit in Snowden's seat.

Maggie:
That's not far enough. It's gonna be weird if we can see each other.

Jim:
Okay.

[He gets up, picks up his bag and moves a few rows back, where he asks someone to switch seats, leaving Maggie looking visibly shaken by their argument]

[Jim is watching Star Trek on his iPad, when Maggie's fingers appear and tap the screen, getting his attention]

Maggie:
Follow me. [seeing he hasn't heard, she pushes his headphones back] Follow me.

Jim:
Where are we going?

Maggie:
Exactly where you think we're going.

[He gets up and follows her]

Jim:
I don't know what... I'm confused.

[As they shuffle down the aisle, the plane jerks, and a flight attendant approaches]

Flight attendant:
We're running into turbulence. You have to go to your seats and put your seat belts on.

Maggie:
[as she squeezes past the attendant] This is awkward.

Jim:
I was sitting far away from you. I was watching episode four.

Maggie:
[to the man that Jim switched seats with] Excuse me, would you mind trading back?

Man:
We are in the middle of turbulence.

Maggie:
It's nothing. It's due to the action of molecular viscosity called laminar flow.

Man:
[tiredly] Okay.

[He gets up and leaves]

Jim:
Where did that come from?

Maggie:
Sit down. Put on your seat belt.

[They sit down and put on their seat belts. Without another word, Maggie kisses Jim]

Sloan:
And we're joined now by Bree Dorrit, Editor of ACN Digital and Father of the Engage app. Thanks for joining us, Bree.

Bree:
Hi Sloan.

Sloan:
We saw it in some of the package we just played, but tell us about Engage.

Bree:
It's a map that tells you where celebrities have been sighted in New York and Los Angeles, and soon we'll be expanding to Vegas and South Beach. Anytime you want, you can scroll around and see, you know, Jude Law was shopping for condoms at Duane Reade on 57th or...

Sloan:
So people are out there, and they can post a message to us and say "Kristen Bell and her kid are at the 4pm showing of How to Train Your Dragon at the Arc Light?"

Bree:
And it goes right on our map instantly.

Sloan:
So that when Kristen Bell and her kid come out of the movies, there are a dozen sociopaths waiting for them?

Bree:
[chuckles nervously] I don't think that's likely.

Sloan:
Why not?

Bree:
Well, it's the price of fame, isn't it?

Sloan:
No. It's not. It's a punishment for it. Celebrities have been stalked, and celebrities have been murdered. What this app is best at is assisting in that, right?

Bree:
I'm sorry you feel that way. Engage is citizen journalism.

Sloan:
Can you talk about the vetting the "citizen journalism" undergoes?

Bree:
The vetting?

Sloan:
People can post more than locations. They can post observations.

Bree:
That's right.

Sloan:
I'm asking if those posts are fact-checked.

Bree:
This is one specific element of the site -

Sloan:
[cutting him off] For instance, in a post today, a citizen journalist tells us that [reads her notes] Jimmy Kimmel was visibly intoxicated last night in the Soho House in West Hollywood.

Bree:
That's right.

Sloan:
Jimmy Kimmel was with his family in Cabo San Lucas last night.

Bree:
[faltering] People don't read this with the expectation of it being true. Everyone's -

Sloan:
Excuse me?

Bree:
Everyone -

Sloan:
People don't have an expectation that what they're reading is true?

Bree:
They read it for the immediacy.

Sloan:
But you're using the word "journalism" which means that there is an expectation that what they're reading is true. But let me take it a step further. Let's pretend it was true, that Jimmy Kimmel was intoxicated last night at the Soho House in West Hollywood. It's not true, but we don't care, so let's pretend it is, since that's what we're doing anyway. Why does that belong on our website?

[In the production room, an operator raises a hand to get Mac's attention]:

Mackenzie:
Leave her on as long as she wants.

[Back in the studio]

Bree:
Honestly, I think there is a shifting definition of what's public and private space.

Sloan:
There is, and we should care about that. But my question is - why should we care about a talk show host drinking at a bar?

Bree:
Don't you think it's great that we're not putting people up on a pedestal and worshiping them anymore?

Sloan:
I don't think celebrities are one of the bigger problems facing us, but aren't we the ones building the pedestal? You've got a map that gives us their location.

Bree:
The idea is that we are acknowledging that they're real people.

Sloan:
I wonder how many of us didn't already know that. But you're doing more than acknowledging they're real people. You're beating them up for it.

Bree:
Aren't they protected by the piles of money they're surrounded by?

Sloan:
Okay. What's the line of demarcation? You make over x dollars a year, and now you get to be treated by us as a regular person who's basically had an electronic bracelet slapped on their ankle. What does x equal?

Bree:
It would be silly to name an exact dollar amount.

Sloan:
You're paid $55,000 dollars a year.

Bree:
Well, that's private!

Sloan:
Sorry. But that's almost twice the national average for a family of four. Do your piles of cash protect you from this interview in which I'm intentionally stripping you of your dignity? And by the way, I've managed to do it without lying once. So I'm going to give you another chance to answer my question before I answer it myself: What's the value of an unsourced, unvetted story about a grown man drinking at a bar? [Bree just stares at her in shocked silence, unable to find any meaningful answer] I can't give you all the time in the world, it's entertainment. My concern isn't for the celebrities, even though as sure as we're sitting here, someone is gonna get hurt. My concern is for the rest of us, who you're turning into a wild pack of prideless punks. [turns to smile at the camera] That's news night for June 24th. I'm Sloan Sabbith, filling in for Will McAvoy. Terry Smith is up next with the Capital Report.

Charlie's Grandson:
That's right, you play guitar on the side.

Will:
I'm a news anchor on the side.

Will:
You were a man, Charlie. You were a great big man.

Leona Lansing:
You have a PR problem because you have an actual problem.

Will:
[On Charlie] His religion was decency. He spent a lifetime fighting its enemies.