Broadcast News Page #4

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JANE:

Come on...Even I'm not that

hard on myself.

TOM:

No, I really got this job on a

fluke and wait till you hear where

it ends up.

Jane smiles a calming smile.

JANE:

I was doing sports at the station.

The newspaper ran this untrue story

that I was leaving and they got all

these tons of protest mail. So they

made me anchor.

JANE:

So great -- right?

TOM:

Except I'm no good at what I'm being

a success at.

JANE:

How are you at back rubs?

Jane shifts her position so that her back is to Tom... He is

immobilized by the sudden turn. Jane waits, just a bit longer

than it would take a man to run from the chair to her side before

experiencing the ghost-like clutch of rejection. She moves

briskly past the moment -- grabbing a "good night" chocolate

from the pillow and munching it as she return to his agenda.

JANE:

It's sort of normal -- the way you

feel. In graduate school everyone

thought the only mistake the

admission committee made was letting

them in.

He moves to the bed.

TOM:

Listen to me. You keep on thinking

I'm somebody ho lacks...confidence.

That's not it. I know I can talk well

enough and I'm not bad at making contact

with people, but I don't like the

feeling that I'm pretending to be a

reporter.

(cont'd)

And half the time I don't really get

the news I'm talking about. It isn't

that I'm down on myself. Trust me,

I stink.

JANE:

(levelly)

I trust you.

TOM:

I didn't even have the chance to get

really good at sports. I wasn't bad.

I thought I was starting to do

interesting features but hockey is

big at the station and...

JANE:

(interrupting)

What about the obvious remedy?

Reversing things. Maybe getting a

job on a newspaper.

TOM:

I don't write.

Jane laughs or, more accurately, scoffs as Tom Continues.

TOM:

But that didn't stop me from

sending out audition tapes to

bigger stations and the networks.

JANE:

Well, come on -- it is your life.

Nobody is tying you to the fast

track. Did you go to college?

TOM:

One year...almost one year.

JANE:

So, you're not well educated and

you have almost no experience and

you can't write.

He nods agreement.

TOM:

And I'm making a fortune.

Jane laughs very briefly -- then rubs her face vigorously with

her hands... He's making her feel a little crazy. She gets off

the bed.

JANE:

It's hard for me to advise you

since you personify something that

I truly think is dangerous.

TOM:

Uh-huh.

JANE:

(holding it in)

I agree with you -- you're not qualified.

(letting it out)

So get qualified. You can insist on

being better prepared. You don't have

to just leave it as...

(mimicking him)

'I don't write. I'm not schooled.

I don't understand the news I'm reading.

But at least I'm upset about it, folks.'

A beat, then he mumbles softly to himself.

TOM:

Whoa, this was a mistake.

JANE:

Just what do you want from me, anyway?

Permission to be a fake? Stop whining

and do something about it.

He gets up to leave. She follows him.

JANE:

Well, you don't have to start right now.

He turns to her.

TOM:

I hated the way you talked to me just

now...and it wasn't just because you

were right.

He exits.

INT. JANE'S HOTEL - NIGHT

She is on the phone.

JANE:

(into phone)

No. It wasn't just the speech --

the same thing happened with this

guy. I have passed some line some

place. I am beginning to repel people

I'm trying to seduce.

INT. AARON'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

As he talks with Jane.

AARON:

(agreeably)

He must have been great-looking, right?

JANE:

Why do you say that?

AARON:

Because nobody invites a bad-

looking idiot to their bedroom.

She smiles.

AARON:

Okay. Let's do me.

JANE:

Sure.

AARON:

Okay. I feel like I'm slipping but

do people who are actually slipping

feel that way or is it always the

really good people who are moving up

who invariably think they're slipping

because their standards are so high?

JANE:

This conversation is not worthy of you.

AARON:

I'd give anything if that were true.

JANE:

(laughing)

Good night.

AARON:

Wouldn't this be a great world if

insecurity and desperation made us

more attractive? If needy were a

turn-on?

JANE:

Call if you get weird.

INT. JANE'S HOTEL - NIGHT

She hangs up -- pulls back the bedspread on the double bed --

on the other half are papers, schedules -- tapes. She doesn't

clear them off so that she is literally sleeping with her work.

The PHONE RINGS.

JANE:

(answering)

I was just thinking it was the

shortest phone conversation we

ever had.

EXT. PHONE BOOTH

A deserted well-lit area. Tom on the phone.

TOM:

I never told you the reason I was

telling you everything for.

JANE:

(pleasantly surprised

it's him)

Hey?

INTERCUT:

ON TOM:

TOM:

Those audition tapes I sent out...

I've been hired by your network for

the Washington bureau. So I'll

probably see you at work. Sorry.

Jane is rocked and soured.

JANE:

What???

EXT. WASHINGTON D.C. STREET - MORNING

Jane and Aaron walking to work -- agitated.

AARON:

They didn't hire Peter Stiller from

the Times and he had a great

audition tape.

JANE:

You want to start going over who they

could have gotten? They can't take on

people like this for network news. For

God's sake. What's going on?

INT. NEWS BUILDING LOBBY - DAY

Tom arrives for first day of work.

INT. ERNIE MERRIMAN'S OFFICE

ERNIE MERRIMAN is the network's Washington Bureau Chief. He

is in his early 60's, has worked for the network about 40 years

-- part of the golden age -- a family man, an honorable man,

a good guy. Right now he is welcoming Tom to the network

thereby good-naturedly helping with the destruction of all he

holds dear. As he hands Tom his credentials:

ERNIE:

Any particular area you feel

strongest in?

TOM:

To be honest, I was best at anchor.

Ernie gives him a long look -- is he kidding?

ERNIE:

Why don't you take a few days observing

the system? Then we'll put you on

general assignment.

EDITING ROOM - NIGHT

Two small TV monitors -- a smallish room. Jane goes over her

timing notes which correspond to the time code SUPERED on the

monitors. BOBBIE -- an extraordinarily silent man -- is doing

Jane's bidding. On the monitor we SEE the mercenary piece

which Jane is editing against a tightening deadline. The

PHONE RINGS periodically -- Jane conducting abrupt conversations

which continuing to edit. The pressure is palpable to begin

with but builds and builds; almost like a family fight getting

out of hand and threatening to bend lives. Through it all, Jane

remains remarkable calm. Her focus is amazing; her command sexy.

JANE:

(consulting notes)

Go back to 316, Bobbie. The sound

bite in the cab -- it starts, 'I

don't know how I'll feel...'

BOBBIE:

We could...

JANE:

(interrupting)

Please, Bobbie, we're pushing.

As Bobbie expertly reverses the tape, Tom's face appears in

the glass doorway and then he enters the already crowded room --

Jane's eyes click to him briefly. She makes not a move to

welcome him. He pauses, but is committed and tries to find

a piece for himself against the wall.

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