There’s a common phrase amongst business men and women today, that goes something along the lines of, “business-ethics is an oxymoron.” This idea stems from a rather cynical standpoint, in which some believe that for one to maximize their own profits, they must abandon moral values, and who may get taken advantage of on the path to achieve one’s goal.
The 1931 film, Five Star Final is an outlier here, or at least, that’s what many would think upon watching the first-half, or basic summary of this story unfold on the silver screen. A story of a newspaper, The Gazette, hoping to share an investigative report of an old scandal involving one Miss Nancy Townsend, and the alleged murder she committed. A valiant cause to expose the truth in the face of the public, right?
Well, no. Not at all. Upon further watching we learn that Nancy’s case had been dead and buried for nearly 20 years, with courts unable to charge her.
Something I think most up-and-coming journalists, including myself, neglect to realize is that journalism, paper-writing, and the entire news-economy is just that, an economy. This point, of course, is exemplified rather well in the film’s setting, taking place in the 1930s. While long after the end of the Yellow Journalism era, known for scandal-driven reporting, the 30s journalism scene in America was classified as yet another turning point in the news industry. Where the former “Jazz-Journalism” era of the past decade, too being known for its gossip and scandal reporting, had begun to fade, journalists in the 30s would begin to shift their focus to a more moralistic standpoint on news.
Five Star Final does an exceptional job portraying this shift, showing how our protagonist, Joseph Randall becomes increasingly worn down by the willingness of his colleagues to ruin the lives of others on the core principle that it will help their business profit.
As the story progresses, our protagonist, Mr. Randall, is pressured by colleagues to go against, releasing the story, while being pressured by managerial characters, such as his boss Mr. Hinchcliff to be in favor of releasing the story. Ultimately, this culminates in Randall going against his instinct and releasing the story anyway.
As the story comes out however, the movie gains a dark, and gruesome end, in which the Townsend family the paper directly affects, takes their own lives, leaving their daughter all alone in the world.
Ultimately, Randall is horrified about the outcome, while Mr. Hinchcliff shows little to no remorse. The story culminates in our protagonist quitting the paper, seeing signs of business collapse in the business’s greed over basic moral value.
This movie, at its core, does a fantastic job at portraying exploitation and alienation of journalists in the work place, and the real dilemmas they must face when it comes with beliefs over what you are told to do.
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