The Fourth Estate
Created by Liz Garbus
Directed by Liz Garbus
Country of origin United States
Original language English
No. of episodes 4
Production
Running time 243 minutes (in total)
Production company Moxie Firecracker Films
Original release
Network Showtime
Release May 27, 2018 (2018-05-27)

The Fourth Estate is a four-part 2018 documentary television series about The New York Times' coverage of the White House directed by Liz Garbus. A 90-minute version was shown on April 28, 2018, at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released by Showtime a month later.

Overview

The series combines running office footage with interviews of investigative reporters and their bosses as they go about their work. Its title 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 President Donald Trump's statement at the Conservative Political Action Conference 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."[1]

Production

The opening sequence is scored by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross; the series features variations of songs from Reznor's Ghosts I–IV.[2]

Release

A 90-minute version was shown on April 28, 2018, at the Tribeca Film Festival and was followed by a panel discussion with Dean Baquet, Elisabeth Bumiller, Julie Davis, Mark Mazzetti, Liz Garbus, and Jenny Carchman.[3] The series was released by Showtime a month later.

Episodes

No. Title [4] Directed by Written by Original release date [4] US viewers
(millions)
1 "First 100 Days" Liz Garbus Unknown May 27, 2018 (2018-05-27) 0.163[5]
2 "The Trump Bump" Jenny Carchman and Liz Garbus Unknown June 3, 2018 (2018-06-03) N/A
3 "American Carnage" Jenny Carchman and Liz Garbus Unknown June 10, 2018 (2018-06-10) 0.111[6]
4 "Matters of Fact" Jenny Carchman and Liz Garbus Unknown June 17, 2018 (2018-06-17) 0.124[7]

References

  1. ^ Jackson, David (February 24, 2017). "Trump again calls media 'enemy of the people'". USA Today. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  2. ^ "Trent Reznor + Atticus Ross Compose Music for 'The Fourth Estate'". Loudwire. April 29, 2018.
  3. ^ "The Fourth Estate". Tribeca Film Festival. April 28, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "The Fourth Estate Listings". The Futon Critic. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  5. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 30, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.27.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on June 2, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  6. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 12, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.10.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  7. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 19, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.17.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
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