His Girl Friday Hits on Journalism

Sensational and memorable, His Girl Friday just based upon its effect on audiences throughout the ages could be equated with the intended impact of yellow journalism.  However, other traces of the era of Pulitzer and Hearst are abundant in the film.  The journalists working for The Morning Post seem to more about capturing the latest scandal rather than news of more substance.  For instance, when the murderer Earl Williams is in the newsroom, Walter Burns orders publishers to have the story of this convicted murderer captured by the newspaper to dominate the front page, and he even says “Never mind the European war or the Chinese earthquake – I don’t care if there’s a million dead!”.  Although the movie makes the aura in the newsroom fast-paced and even glamorous, it exaggerates this sentiment of solely pursuing dramatic and fleeting events designed to provoke or entertain.  Even more farcical is how the film’s characters brazenly violate journalistic ethics in the name of capturing these flashy stories.  When Hildy goes to the prison to Earl Williams, she bribes the warden, Cooley, to even speak with Earl.  Moreover, when she speaks with Earl, she does not reveal that she is a reporter, which is questionable ethically.  Perhaps the most comically corrupt act in the film is when Hildy and Walter Burns hide Earl in the newsroom, thus kidnapping him for the sake of a good story.  Similarly, although they are not journalists, the mayor and sheriff also behave unethically when they bribe the messenger of the governor’s reprieve of Earl Williams to go away so that this information does not become public.  In this respect, they are putting their reelection interests above telling the truth. 

This lack of moral fiber ties into how these characters did not “minimize harm.”  According to the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics, minimizing harm entails treating “sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.”  Perhaps the starkest example of how these journalists did quite the opposite of these ethical guidelines is when Hildy and Walter hide Earl Williams in a desk so that The Morning Post can claim credit for capturing this escaped criminal.  In fact, when Earl tries to crawl out of the desk at one point, Walter disdainfully orders “Get back in there, you mock turtle!” The characters thus did not remain independent and neutral.  Hildy and Walter put their own interests of fame and prestige above the law, which would require them to turn Earl in to the police.  Clearly, the sheriff and mayor were far from independent and neutral as they, too, tampered with the law to an even greater extent by bribing someone to keep information private so a man could be executed but their record could be untarnished.  They could consequently also be accused of indirectly facilitating unnecessary and unmandated murder.  As a result, it is certainly understandable why high brow newspapers took offense to the first incarnation of His Girl Friday, which was then titled The Front Page.  These newspapers are accurate in their statements that reporters were made to look more like gangsters than moderately well-off businessman.  Ruthless and parasitic, the reporters depicted in the film are willing to lie, cheat, and break laws for a profitable story.  Even in their personal lives this sentiment carries over, as shown when Walter gives Bruce counterfeit money so Bruce will go to jail temporarily and he can have more time to win back Hildy’s heart. 

An interesting twist was having the two protagonists, Walter and Hildy, be of the opposite sex, which was not true of The Front Page.  Not only did it infuse a romantic tension between the two characters, but it also highlighted an issue that was then, and oftentimes now, a controversial topic: the domain of a woman.  At first, Hildy expresses the desire to put her journalistic ambitions behind her and focus on being a more traditional homemaker and mother.  However, as she struggles with her innate talent and passion for writing, it becomes clear that the film is making a statement that women can venture out of the domestic sphere.  A large part of why Hildy and Walter are attracted to each other and shown as compatible is their shared love for journalism.  They are intellectual equals and their verbal sparring stands in stark contrast to her rather dull conversations with Bruce.

Despite the sordid nature of these characters’ behavior, His Girl Friday still manages to be “an old-fashioned valentine to journalism and American life.”  While the characters upon deeper contemplation could actually be seen as criminals lacking values, the film is a good-natured tribute to the then-pertinent issue of the dying art of yellow journalism.  These crimes are not only exaggerated and humorous, but often, in one interpretation, justify the means.  By temporarily hiding Earl Williams, for instance, Hildy and Walter were able to prevent a murder and the town being led by corrupt mayors and sheriffs.  As a result, the film depicts a potentially embarrassing and shameful period of journalism in a fond, light-hearted manner.