Aaron Sorkin Wants You To Know Jay Paterno Was Really Moved By The Newsroom

Aaron Sorkin says Jay Paterno called him after Paterno watched an episode of The Newsroom earlier this summer. The episode, which was about last year's attempted assassination of then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, showed how some networks (like NPR) inaccurately reported Gifford had died. Which, come to think of it, is pretty much what happened to Jay Paterno's old man, whose January death was prematurely reported after pretty much the entire internet jumped the gun by about 12 hours.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

When Jay Paterno reached out to Sorkin, the showrunner said his note was to express gratitude for the way the series addressed the importance of the news media's responsibility when reporting a person's passing, and specifically Thomas Sadoski's character line: "A doctor pronounces her dead. Not the news."

Says Sorkin, "That was a special moment for me, too."

Now, Jay Paterno is a man who jumps at any chance to speak whenever he hears the media say anything about "JoePa" (really, even just "Joe" or "Pa"). And it's great that Sorkin wants us to be aware that Jay Paterno called him. You know, the son of a disgraced football coach who was eviscerated by the media likes the way Sorkin, a producer who writes about an imaginary news network, handles Real Journalism Issues. Not that there are any issues of resentment here or anything.

Joe Paterno's Son Called Aaron Sorkin After Watching 'The Newsroom' [THR]