Rainn Wilson and ‘The Paper’ Spotlight the Decline of Local Newspapers
Hey, have you heard about Rainn Wilson’s new project? It’s called The Paper , a spinoff from The Office , and honestly, it’s a fascinating peek into an industry that’s fading faster than we realized: local newspapers. The show drops us into the Toledo Truth-Teller, a once-thriving daily paper that now barely has a staff to keep it running. From the very first scene, the humor is dry but painfully accurate—the managing editor casually admits that the print edition mainly exists for people to frame when their names appear. It’s funny, but also kind of sad if you’ve ever worked in journalism.
For anyone who’s been in a newsroom, that line lands hard. I remember my first job as a sportswriter at The Eagle-Tribune in Lawrence, Massachusetts. My editor would often joke that most of our stories were written for parents to hang on their fridges. It wasn’t dismissive; it was a reminder that the work mattered, even if it wasn’t world-changing. Back then, walking into that windowless newsroom filled with Pulitzer Prize photos, I felt proud to be part of it. A $27,000 salary felt enough for a 22-year-old chasing a dream. But seeing that world turned into a mockumentary now stings because the reason it’s chosen for TV is simple: the industry is dying.
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Reports show that since 2005, over a third of print newspapers in the U.S. have shut down, and only about 20 percent of the remaining 5,600 are daily publications. So the premise of The Paper —a painfully optimistic editor, Ned, played by Domhnall Gleeson, trying to revive a hollowed-out paper—hits a bittersweet note. It’s an impossible fantasy in real life, but the show captures something real: even in a tiny, struggling newsroom, the work still matters.
Watching the characters stumble through outdated computers, frozen layouts, and clueless management feels oddly familiar. It mirrors real experiences: late nights, tiny paychecks, high-pressure deadlines, and the occasional ridiculous crisis. I spent years covering high school sports, hustling to get quotes, rush typing stories, and chasing box scores—all while juggling life in the newsroom. Some days were humiliating, like getting yelled at over a misspelled word I didn’t even write, but other moments—like watching an athlete break a record—made it all worth it.
What The Paper nails is that newspapers, even small-town ones, are filled with characters. There’s always someone eccentric, gossip-happy, or bizarrely talented. My old newsroom had people who could have been sitcom characters: a publisher who doubled as a ventriloquist, a sports columnist tight with NHL legends, and reporters with quirks that kept the place alive. The Paper captures that mix of humor, humanity, and heartbreak perfectly.
Rainn Wilson’s involvement gives the project an added spark, bridging the mockumentary style that made The Office iconic with a deeply nostalgic look at journalism. But beyond laughs, the show reminds us that the grind of local news isn’t just tedious—it’s meaningful. And as newspapers vanish, that sense of community, of telling real stories about real people, is disappearing too. The Paper is funny, it’s poignant, and it’s a tribute to an era that’s almost gone, leaving viewers both entertained and a little nostalgic.
In short, it’s a show that makes you laugh, maybe sigh a bit, and appreciate what it was like to be part of the newsroom chaos, even if those days are behind us.
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