We’re Ready for our Close-up: AFJ Has a Cameo on “The Newsroom”

A star is born. On Sunday night’s episode of Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO show, “The Newsroom,” a member of the newsroom’s staff referenced a (real!) Alliance for Justice report as justification for doing a story on the unprecedented obstruction of judicial nominations in the Senate.

AFJ makes its cameo appearance in a scene early in the episode, when Mac McHale, the show-within-a-show’s executive producer (played by Emily Mortimer), informs the newsroom staff that, in the interest of keeping up ratings, they will have to cut several stories to make room for a story on Casey Anthony. Tragically, one of those cut turns out to be a story idea centered on AFJ’s “State of the Judiciary” report.

Season 1, Episode 8 of “The Newsroom”

Those of you with an HBO subscription can catch up on the episode here; for those without, read on for a quick transcript of the scene.

Mac: "I think you already know that starting tonight we're leading with Casey Anthony. Does anyone have a problem with that?"
(Most of the staff raises their hands)
Mac: "Alright, well we lost almost half a million viewers to Nancy Grace last week. Does anyone still have a problem with it?"
(Staff raises their hands again)
Mac: "We're gonna clear out some of these stories to make room. (Reading from a whiteboard) ‘Senate Obstruction Becomes Worst in U.S. History’."
Gary: "That's a report by the Alliance for Justice. The Senate's confirmed a smaller percentage of Obama's judicial appointees than any other Senate and any other President."
Mac: "No reason to care about that" (Crosses off list)

* * *

AFJ to “The Newsroom”: Ouch! That hurts! (But thanks for the plug.)