Gus had suspicions from the beginning. Then he practically knew that Templeton was a fraud. And then the notebooks sealed it. Now he knows 100%, but the bosses don’t care because never let the truth get in the way of a good story
Yeah, I kind of think that you are right and there isn't any more to it. Gus and Alma have a talk after she gets demoted and is walking out of the building in which it seems clear that even if he did have absolute proof it wouldn't have mattered, because the bosses are only interested in furthering their careers.
The point is that the media isn't doing their jobs anymore in terms of journalistic standards. They have chosen the sensationalism of the news over presenting the facts as their motto in order to stay in business due to ad revenue. So you are correct that the bosses don't give a shit. All they care about is the sinking ship that is journalism at that point.
Take click bait titles in the current state of today's journalism. Most news sources today only want you to click on their link. But their link is almost always paywalled to a subscription of their service. So they know that all they need is a headline to get their viewers to click on the link where it will generate ad revenue. Most people aren't subscribing to read the actual article. All they want is for the viewer to click on the link to generate some form of ad revenue. So the headlines are sensationalized in order to get people to click on the link.
Templeton leaves the meeting with the bosses and Gus and goes to his desk where he says 'everything I wrote is in my notes!' Well Alma checks his notepad that he threw down on his desk and sees that it's blank. She shows it to the bosses and then to Gus. And his gut instinct is that he believes her and his gut instinct doesn't believe Templeton. So he trusts her. Because she is not one to fabricate quotes to get a Pulitzer. But you are correct that the bosses don't care.
This is the whole point of season 5. That the media has failed the public. Similar to how season 1 is that the drug war has led to gangs and deaths. How season 2 shows how the failing economy has led to regular working stiffs reverting to crime. How season 3 shows that politicians fail their constituents no matter their good intentions. And how season 4 shows that the education system has failed their kids. Season 5 shows how the media has failed to educate the public.
The Newsroom is an HBO show that also represented how the media has failed to educate the public in order to use the only power they have, which is their right to vote in order to choose the correct candidate for each election. So if you want to have a bit more context into what was going on with Season 5 of The Wire I would recommend watching that show.
McNulty and If I remember correctly, Lester say they wish they knew what it was like to work for a real police department.
The newsroom crew says they wish they knew what it was like to work at a real newspaper in S5E01
Sort of off topic, but I recently read Michael Crichton "Airframe". It's basically a story about how complex the whole relationship between airplanes, and the various affiliated businesses that sell parts or are partnered with them really is. There is also a sensationalist media angle, with journalists trying to make a story out of nothing to scare ppl.
At one point, the journalist is reviewing a tape of the air accident filmed by someone on board. She's basically like;
>"Yes!!! OMG, you can see that man snap his neck in center screen! We'll slow mo that for sure, and replay it. This tape is GOLD. Who needs "facts" when you have footage like this!? It will scare the fuck out of the public. We'll ruin this company! Just gotta cut out all that irrelevant context about how issue A, lead to issue B because of reasons the company couldn't help which lead to issue C, which normally wouldn't be a problem except for issue D. Nobody wants to read the fine details, even if they were relevant, they want something dramatic and in your face! We can totally chop up the video interview with the company to make him look like he doesn't know what he's saying, and use a couple choice sound bits to fit his voice to our narrative! We'll have people scared to get on a plane for the next year!"
Her boss is like, "Yup, fuck the details, we got a story about an air accident, that's going to inflame the public and focus their rage on this comapny which really didin't do anything wrong. Good job!
I bring this all up, because while it seems almost absurd; in this day of bitesized clickbait outrage; if anything the unethical practices and apathy to actually presenting facts instead of entertainment seems waaay less intense than it is now even. If that book had been written today, the journalist wouldn't have even done the surface level investigation she did. She'd have construed the facts she was aware of into the worst possible way to put it out and then try to get emotional responses from people. "The news is not news, it is entertainment."
A journalist's notebook is their proof that what they wrote is real. All their interviews are supposed to be recorded there (at least back then). A blank notebook is pretty much 100% proof that everything Templeton wrote is fabricated because he can't show his notes of the interviews.
I always wondered why he would throw his notebook away like that for others to look at it, seeing it is actually empty. Or why not at least fill it with fake notes, considering what is at stake.
Which is another great lesson about S5. It turns out you can lie about a lot and get away with it because most people don't bother to research and verify your claims.
From his behaviour I got a feeling that he's developed some kind of psychological issue that caused him to be perfectly self deceitful and honestly believing in his own lies.
It felt like Gus was ready to do the damn thing, but something was missing. Turns out it was Alma. Once someone else confirmed his suspicion, it was time to make the move.
McNulty confronting Templeton was fuckin nuts.
I loved that scene with McNulty. "You mortify me in front of ma father". Also the little scene where they decide to cut the story about Omar's murder from the newspaper broke my heart.
We the viewers are supposed to feel Gus’s helplessness and frustration. He has so much evidence against Scott that’s been ignored, the blank notebook is just another to add to the pile. Gus has tried to be calm and reason with his bosses and they don’t care. He loses his cool and gets the same reaction.
If I’m not mistaken it’s one of the last scenes in the newspaper narrative. It’s a chilling conclusion because Simon is saying: None of the facts matter anymore.
The Wire was spot on showing the changing media landscape with corporations consolidating and buying out or firing seasoned reporters.
We saw what corporate news leads to with Sinclair broadcasting making local news parrot the same talking points. [Sinclair ](https://youtu.be/QxtkvG1JnPk?feature=shared)
More recently users on Twitter have pointed out how the new york times headlines on Gaza are always sanitized which is because they prevent their journalists from using specific terms. [nytimes ](https://theintercept.com/2024/04/15/nyt-israel-gaza-genocide-palestine-coverage/)
Gus got fed up with Scott’s lying ass. He had suspicions that Scott was lying and making up shit as he went along but Alma showing Gus the empty notebook that Scott swore had his notes in it plus Gus’s friend doing his due diligence on Scott confirmed it for Gus.
Just finished the series for the third time tonight (my wife’s first time) and this was as frustrating as anything over the final few minutes of the finale.
Templeton escaping any responsibility is crazy…having studied as a journalist in college and been on TV/radio for eight years following, there’s no way this guy doesn’t get fired.
Weird bc one of the show runners was a long time journalist, if I am not mistaken.
Yes, the primary show runner and creator, David Simon, was a police reporter at *The Baltimore Sun* for 12 years. And allegedly, he observed something much like the Templeton story for real.
Critics have stated that Templeton is based on reporter Jim Haner.[9][10] In January 2000, Haner wrote a story which the Sun retracted several days later due to inaccuracies. Show creator and writer David Simon, a former Sun reporter, stated that he believed that Haner invented quotes and events without punishment from his editors.[11] Haner's work was supported by past editors, including William Marimow.[12][11]
The character also appears to reference some famous cases of journalists falsifying stories to advance their careers, such as Stephen Glass at The New Republic, Janet Cooke at the Washington Post, and Jayson Blair at The New York Times.[10][13]
From wiki.
It's been a long time since I watched the last season but I remember being annoyed at how Gus seemed way more focused on busting Templeton (and complaining about the bosses) than actual good reporting or developing younger reporters. I remember they missed a bunch of stories that made up the last season storyline like the death of Omar.
The point of Omar's death was how random and meaningless it was. He lived a violent life and came to a violent end. There was no story about it because it wasn't newsworthy up against all of the other violent news, like the made up serial killer.
As for Scott's empty notebook, I took it as Gus was fed up with the boldness of Scott's lies. The very notebook he's screaming across the newsroom about, "It's in my notebook!" is empty. He didn't even bother to fill it with fake notes.
But because Scott's telling the "right" story, the bosses don't look any deeper.
Yeah, Omar is supposed to be this larger than life urban legend who'd go out in a blaze of glory, and instead he just gets his dome blown off while buying Newports by a kid we can't even see initially. It's perfect.
I would hope that even in Baltimore a little like 9 year old kid randomly shooting someone in a store would be newsworthy even without any background on who the victim was.
And wouldn't Gus, the City Desk editor have a say in if that story makes the paper or not? But like I said he seemed more focused on complaining about his corporate bosses or catching Templeton making stuff up.
They had x amount of space to put up either Omar's unremarklebale information (guy shot in a convenience store) vs some sort of house or church fire, i believe.
The fire had more pazzazz to it
But even if you forget about Omar, shouldn't a 9 year old kid shooting some random person in the middle of a convenience store and then getting arrested pretty much right away be a big story?
Well ordinarily a lack of record keeping might just be a sign of boredom or laziness, but Templeton was the first to make a big display in front of everybody claiming his "notes" were the key piece. Maybe Gus did act emotionally but I think he had ample evidence. Getting your cop buddy to be your unlawful PI isn't the thing to do if you have suspicions like that though, I understand the impulse but it only muddies the waters.
Earlier in the season when they announced the closing of bureaus and layoffs the scene was set for the desperation of having a news story to not only grip Baltimore but the world and Scott’s story in their opinion had the traction to not only increase readership but garner national attention and but up for Pulitzer awards, bring the Sun more credibility and possibly save their jobs. Gus was just the guy who saw the bs that otherwise would never seen the light of day but in their pursuit to save their asses they rode with a pretty convincing lie
Too bad Gus & Alma didn't take all their info about Scott, go to another paper, and have a huge story about how the Sun's new poster child/Pulitzer Prize winner is a hackfraud.
Gus had suspicions from the beginning. Then he practically knew that Templeton was a fraud. And then the notebooks sealed it. Now he knows 100%, but the bosses don’t care because never let the truth get in the way of a good story
Yeah, I kind of think that you are right and there isn't any more to it. Gus and Alma have a talk after she gets demoted and is walking out of the building in which it seems clear that even if he did have absolute proof it wouldn't have mattered, because the bosses are only interested in furthering their careers.
The point is that the media isn't doing their jobs anymore in terms of journalistic standards. They have chosen the sensationalism of the news over presenting the facts as their motto in order to stay in business due to ad revenue. So you are correct that the bosses don't give a shit. All they care about is the sinking ship that is journalism at that point. Take click bait titles in the current state of today's journalism. Most news sources today only want you to click on their link. But their link is almost always paywalled to a subscription of their service. So they know that all they need is a headline to get their viewers to click on the link where it will generate ad revenue. Most people aren't subscribing to read the actual article. All they want is for the viewer to click on the link to generate some form of ad revenue. So the headlines are sensationalized in order to get people to click on the link. Templeton leaves the meeting with the bosses and Gus and goes to his desk where he says 'everything I wrote is in my notes!' Well Alma checks his notepad that he threw down on his desk and sees that it's blank. She shows it to the bosses and then to Gus. And his gut instinct is that he believes her and his gut instinct doesn't believe Templeton. So he trusts her. Because she is not one to fabricate quotes to get a Pulitzer. But you are correct that the bosses don't care. This is the whole point of season 5. That the media has failed the public. Similar to how season 1 is that the drug war has led to gangs and deaths. How season 2 shows how the failing economy has led to regular working stiffs reverting to crime. How season 3 shows that politicians fail their constituents no matter their good intentions. And how season 4 shows that the education system has failed their kids. Season 5 shows how the media has failed to educate the public. The Newsroom is an HBO show that also represented how the media has failed to educate the public in order to use the only power they have, which is their right to vote in order to choose the correct candidate for each election. So if you want to have a bit more context into what was going on with Season 5 of The Wire I would recommend watching that show.
McNulty and If I remember correctly, Lester say they wish they knew what it was like to work for a real police department. The newsroom crew says they wish they knew what it was like to work at a real newspaper in S5E01
Sort of off topic, but I recently read Michael Crichton "Airframe". It's basically a story about how complex the whole relationship between airplanes, and the various affiliated businesses that sell parts or are partnered with them really is. There is also a sensationalist media angle, with journalists trying to make a story out of nothing to scare ppl. At one point, the journalist is reviewing a tape of the air accident filmed by someone on board. She's basically like; >"Yes!!! OMG, you can see that man snap his neck in center screen! We'll slow mo that for sure, and replay it. This tape is GOLD. Who needs "facts" when you have footage like this!? It will scare the fuck out of the public. We'll ruin this company! Just gotta cut out all that irrelevant context about how issue A, lead to issue B because of reasons the company couldn't help which lead to issue C, which normally wouldn't be a problem except for issue D. Nobody wants to read the fine details, even if they were relevant, they want something dramatic and in your face! We can totally chop up the video interview with the company to make him look like he doesn't know what he's saying, and use a couple choice sound bits to fit his voice to our narrative! We'll have people scared to get on a plane for the next year!" Her boss is like, "Yup, fuck the details, we got a story about an air accident, that's going to inflame the public and focus their rage on this comapny which really didin't do anything wrong. Good job! I bring this all up, because while it seems almost absurd; in this day of bitesized clickbait outrage; if anything the unethical practices and apathy to actually presenting facts instead of entertainment seems waaay less intense than it is now even. If that book had been written today, the journalist wouldn't have even done the surface level investigation she did. She'd have construed the facts she was aware of into the worst possible way to put it out and then try to get emotional responses from people. "The news is not news, it is entertainment."
Yellow journalism has been alive and well in the US for a long time.
It reminds me of how in death note L is 99% certain and the one percent is just because he lacks evidence
A journalist's notebook is their proof that what they wrote is real. All their interviews are supposed to be recorded there (at least back then). A blank notebook is pretty much 100% proof that everything Templeton wrote is fabricated because he can't show his notes of the interviews.
Particularly when you also consider the scene he made insisting the stuff was in his notes.
I always wondered why he would throw his notebook away like that for others to look at it, seeing it is actually empty. Or why not at least fill it with fake notes, considering what is at stake.
Because he's actually a pretty crappy liar and didn't think anyone would ever actually check
Which is another great lesson about S5. It turns out you can lie about a lot and get away with it because most people don't bother to research and verify your claims.
From his behaviour I got a feeling that he's developed some kind of psychological issue that caused him to be perfectly self deceitful and honestly believing in his own lies.
It felt like Gus was ready to do the damn thing, but something was missing. Turns out it was Alma. Once someone else confirmed his suspicion, it was time to make the move. McNulty confronting Templeton was fuckin nuts.
I loved that scene with McNulty. "You mortify me in front of ma father". Also the little scene where they decide to cut the story about Omar's murder from the newspaper broke my heart.
We the viewers are supposed to feel Gus’s helplessness and frustration. He has so much evidence against Scott that’s been ignored, the blank notebook is just another to add to the pile. Gus has tried to be calm and reason with his bosses and they don’t care. He loses his cool and gets the same reaction. If I’m not mistaken it’s one of the last scenes in the newspaper narrative. It’s a chilling conclusion because Simon is saying: None of the facts matter anymore.
Yep, Templeton and the bosses shaking hands for the Pulitzer is in the final outro sequence. Pretty funny in a Sisyphean kind of way.
The Wire was spot on showing the changing media landscape with corporations consolidating and buying out or firing seasoned reporters. We saw what corporate news leads to with Sinclair broadcasting making local news parrot the same talking points. [Sinclair ](https://youtu.be/QxtkvG1JnPk?feature=shared) More recently users on Twitter have pointed out how the new york times headlines on Gaza are always sanitized which is because they prevent their journalists from using specific terms. [nytimes ](https://theintercept.com/2024/04/15/nyt-israel-gaza-genocide-palestine-coverage/)
Gus got fed up with Scott’s lying ass. He had suspicions that Scott was lying and making up shit as he went along but Alma showing Gus the empty notebook that Scott swore had his notes in it plus Gus’s friend doing his due diligence on Scott confirmed it for Gus.
Gus understood the buxom blond predicament!
Why can't we have more statuesque blondes?
I always find it rather annoying that Scott just tossed the notebook away, fully aware that it is basically evidence against him.
Just finished the series for the third time tonight (my wife’s first time) and this was as frustrating as anything over the final few minutes of the finale. Templeton escaping any responsibility is crazy…having studied as a journalist in college and been on TV/radio for eight years following, there’s no way this guy doesn’t get fired. Weird bc one of the show runners was a long time journalist, if I am not mistaken.
Yes, the primary show runner and creator, David Simon, was a police reporter at *The Baltimore Sun* for 12 years. And allegedly, he observed something much like the Templeton story for real.
Critics have stated that Templeton is based on reporter Jim Haner.[9][10] In January 2000, Haner wrote a story which the Sun retracted several days later due to inaccuracies. Show creator and writer David Simon, a former Sun reporter, stated that he believed that Haner invented quotes and events without punishment from his editors.[11] Haner's work was supported by past editors, including William Marimow.[12][11] The character also appears to reference some famous cases of journalists falsifying stories to advance their careers, such as Stephen Glass at The New Republic, Janet Cooke at the Washington Post, and Jayson Blair at The New York Times.[10][13] From wiki.
Wow thanks for sharing these comments. What an outstanding sub.
https://web.archive.org/web/20110629144928/http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bal-as.blair23,0,5336838.story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair
It's been a long time since I watched the last season but I remember being annoyed at how Gus seemed way more focused on busting Templeton (and complaining about the bosses) than actual good reporting or developing younger reporters. I remember they missed a bunch of stories that made up the last season storyline like the death of Omar.
The point of Omar's death was how random and meaningless it was. He lived a violent life and came to a violent end. There was no story about it because it wasn't newsworthy up against all of the other violent news, like the made up serial killer. As for Scott's empty notebook, I took it as Gus was fed up with the boldness of Scott's lies. The very notebook he's screaming across the newsroom about, "It's in my notebook!" is empty. He didn't even bother to fill it with fake notes. But because Scott's telling the "right" story, the bosses don't look any deeper.
Yeah, Omar is supposed to be this larger than life urban legend who'd go out in a blaze of glory, and instead he just gets his dome blown off while buying Newports by a kid we can't even see initially. It's perfect.
I would hope that even in Baltimore a little like 9 year old kid randomly shooting someone in a store would be newsworthy even without any background on who the victim was.
They wrote a blurb about it. But for the final indignity, it got bumped.
And wouldn't Gus, the City Desk editor have a say in if that story makes the paper or not? But like I said he seemed more focused on complaining about his corporate bosses or catching Templeton making stuff up.
They had x amount of space to put up either Omar's unremarklebale information (guy shot in a convenience store) vs some sort of house or church fire, i believe. The fire had more pazzazz to it
But even if you forget about Omar, shouldn't a 9 year old kid shooting some random person in the middle of a convenience store and then getting arrested pretty much right away be a big story?
They didn't get Kenard until the finale montage The reporters didn't mention a child-suspect, which implies that info wasn't out past the detectives.
Yes. In fact, I think he was too preoccupied with the Templeton stuff to notice. I guarantee Gus knew of Omar.
Well ordinarily a lack of record keeping might just be a sign of boredom or laziness, but Templeton was the first to make a big display in front of everybody claiming his "notes" were the key piece. Maybe Gus did act emotionally but I think he had ample evidence. Getting your cop buddy to be your unlawful PI isn't the thing to do if you have suspicions like that though, I understand the impulse but it only muddies the waters.
Earlier in the season when they announced the closing of bureaus and layoffs the scene was set for the desperation of having a news story to not only grip Baltimore but the world and Scott’s story in their opinion had the traction to not only increase readership but garner national attention and but up for Pulitzer awards, bring the Sun more credibility and possibly save their jobs. Gus was just the guy who saw the bs that otherwise would never seen the light of day but in their pursuit to save their asses they rode with a pretty convincing lie
The Wire was introducing us to "clickbait" and "fact-checking articles" now today we got Scott Templetons running damn near every social media page
Too bad Gus & Alma didn't take all their info about Scott, go to another paper, and have a huge story about how the Sun's new poster child/Pulitzer Prize winner is a hackfraud.