Two Parts Fact, Two Parts Fiction, Stir Vigorously…
I've watched a couple of episodes, and it's an interesting little project. Presumably for reasons having to do with money and/or the Screen Actors Guild, none of the actors from "Jehrico" are shown here – which presents something of a challenge considering that "Countdown" is supposed to be a prequel series. Instead, we have a character in a face-obscuring hoodie who spends a whole lot of time looking at, and sending text messages on, his cell phone.
One typical episode I watched went like this: "Hawkins," having just been robbed, sends some text messages to "Tango," who advises him to go to a "poss. nuke worksite." There, Hawkins gets out the phone again. "looks like a trap!" he writes. His next move? To watch a video on "leadership in crisis," featuring Dr. Maki Haberfeld, the chair of the law department at John Jay College. There is some scary music and images of chaos. Then Hawkins is knocked out by gas.
If I thought I'd walked into a trap, I probably wouldn't take the time to watch a leadership video. But let's put that aside for now. Instead, it's worth thinking about the implications of this news/fiction hybrid.
Television has gotten increasingly sophisticated over the years, and increasingly timely. Programs like "Jericho" and "24" dramatize events that could occur in the real world, and, at least in the latter case, tie them to real-world grievances. And that has led to questions about what our fiction is teaching us.
A fantastic Jane Mayer piece in the New Yorker, which I wrote about in February, looked at the impact "24," helmed by Joel Surnow, has had on some West Point cadets. According to U.S. Army Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, "it had become increasingly hard to convince some cadets that America had to respect the rule of law and human rights, even when terrorists did not." Finnegan says "24" is part of the reason. "The kids see it, and say, 'If torture is wrong, what about "24"?" He added: "The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do."
"24" is a fictional show that feels real, if outlandish. "Countdown" is something else – a (admittedly bare bones) fictional drama infused with actual journalism. As the Times notes, "[e]ditor Tom Costantino relies heavily on CBS' archival footage, splicing interviews with analysts from the Council on Foreign Relations and the New York City Fire Department's hazmat team with scenes of nuclear bomb detonations and military maneuvers."
We live in a time in which information with the apparent imprimatur of legitimacy is always close at hand. Wikipedia has the look and feel of an authoritative source of information, even though anyone can edit it. "24" includes scenes in which Fox News personalities report on the blast radius of a fictional bomb, and gives us lessons on the effectiveness of torture. Cable news talkers who like to advertise their credentials pass judgment on crime suspects before a jury even begins deliberations.
In this environment, it's important for media outlets to maintain a line between legitimate information and the less reliable kind. What's troubling about "Countdown" is that CBS News materials are repurposed so that they can serve a fictional story. When the lines between fact and fiction are blurred like this, it contributes to our sense that all media – drama, news, talk radio – all carry the same weight. Everything becomes sorta-legitimate. And that eventually leaves CBS News with no more claim to the mantle of journalistic authority than Joel Surnow.