''The Fourth Estate'' is a four-part 2018 documentary series about ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' coverage of

the White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 180 ...

, directed by

Liz Garbus Elizabeth Freya Garbus (born April 11, 1970) is an American documentary film director and producer. Notable documentaries Garbus has made are '' The Farm: Angola, USA,'' ''Ghosts of Abu Ghraib,'' ''Bobby Fischer Against the World,'' ''Love, Maril ...

. A 90-minute version was shown on April 28, 2018 at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

and was followed by a panel discussion with

Dean Baquet Dean P. Baquet (; born September 21, 1956) is an American journalist. He served as the executive editor of ''The New York Times'' from May 2014 to June 2022. Between 2011 and 2014 Baquet was managing editor under the previous executive editor J ...

Elisabeth Bumiller Elisabeth Bumiller (born May 15, 1956) is an American author and journalist who is the Washington bureau chief for ''The New York Times''. Early life and education Bumiller was born in Aalborg, Denmark, to a Danish mother, Gunhild Bumiller Rose ...

, Julie Davis,

Mark Mazzetti Mark Mazzetti (born May 13, 1974) is an American journalist who works for the ''New York Times''. He is currently a Washington Investigative Correspondent for the Times. Life Mazzetti was born in Washington, D.C. He attended Regis High School ...

, and Jenny Carchman. The opening sequence is scored by

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...

and

Atticus Ross Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for '' The Social Network'' in 2010. In 2013, th ...

; the series features variations of songs from Reznor's ''

Ghosts I-IV A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

''. The series was released by

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

a month later. It combines running office footage with interviews of investigative reporters and their bosses as they go about their work. The title of the series comes from the common term " the Fourth Estate" for the press' role as independent watchdog keeping an eye on the government. The choice of title can be seen as an ironic comment to Trump's statement at the

Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; ) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU) ...

on February 24, 2017, that much of the news media is "the enemy of the people": "A few days ago I called the fake news the enemy of the people and they are. They are the enemy of the people."

Episodes

References

External links

* * on

Showtime's ‘Fourth Estate’ shows how the journalism sausage is made
on ''

Poynter Poynter is an English occupational surname for the maker of cord that fastened doublet with hose (clothing). The name derives from the Middle English "poynte" and originally from the Latin "puncta", meaning to pierce. Poynter may also be an Anglic ...

'', May 25, 2018 2018 American television series debuts 2010s American documentary television series Showtime (TV network) original programming English-language television shows Television series about journalism Donald Trump in popular culture {{US-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub