The dramaturgical construction of journalistic TV characters in ctional
series (2012-2024): psychological proles and transformation arcs
La construcción dramática de personajes periodistas televisivos en series de
cción (2012-2024): perles psicológicos y arcos de transformación
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nº 42, pp. 233-254
| 233
January-June of 2026
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
How to cite this article:
Lorenzo López, J. G. and Úrbez Fernández, P. (2026).
e dramaturgical construction of journalistic TV characters in ctional series (2012-2024):
psychological proles and transformation arcs
.
Doxa Comunicación
, 42, pp. 233-254.
https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n42a2751
José Gabriel Lorenzo López.
PhD in Audio-visual Arts from Rey Juan Carlos University, he also serves as a lecturer
on the Audio-visual Communications Degree at Villanueva University, and at the
Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático
[graduate school of the dramatic arts] of Castilla y León. Professor Lorenzo López also teaches on the Master’s Degree
in Screenwriting for Film and TV Series at Rey Juan Carlos University. His publications include the screenplay entitled,
El Día del Fin del Mundo
[e day the world ended], for which he obtained a grant from the Autonomous Region of
Madrid for the development of this and other feature lm scripts. Moreover, he is also the screenwriter for the lm,
No
Puedo Vivir sin Ti
[I can’t live without you], which has been released on Netix in the current year of 2024. In addition
to being a screenwriter, his work as a researcher focuses on cinematic narratives and dramatic strategies for both in lm
and television scripts.
Villanueva University, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID:
0000-0003-2555-2947
Pablo Úrbez Fernández.
PhD in Communication from the University of Navarra, in addition to a bachelor’s degrees
in both Journalism and History, he also serves as Secretary of the Audio-visual Communications Degree at Villanueva
University. His main line of research is historical and biographical portrayals in audio-visual media, which was the
subject of his doctoral thesis, and he has also completed one six-year investigative term. He has participated in both
national and international conferences in the areas of Communication and Humanities, in addition to having carried
out a research stay at the
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
in Milan in 2021, and at King’s College London in 2024.
Villanueva University, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID:
0000-0001-7781-8888
is content is published under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License. International License CC BY-NC 4.0
Recibido: 24/07/2024 - Aceptado: 05/11/2024 - En edición: 10/01/2025 - Publicado: 01/01/2026
Resumen:
En 2012, el éxito de la serie
e Newsroom
vino acompañado de la polémica
que suscitó, entre los profesionales del medio, el idealismo de los protagonis
-
tas. Aunque las series sobre periodistas de noticiarios televisivos ya existían
antes de la llegada de
e Newsroom
, el impacto mediático que originó su
estreno inauguró una nueva tendencia en el género. Este artículo indaga en
Received: 24/07/2024 - Accepted: 05/11/2024 - Early access: 10/01/2025 - Published: 01/01/2026
Abstract:
e success of the series
e Newsroom
was accompanied by
controversy among media professionals regarding the idealism of the
protagonists. Although series about television news journalists existed
before the arrival of
e Newsroom
, the media impact of its premiere
inaugurated a new trend in the genre. is article looks at some of
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1. Introduction
From classic Hollywood until the 21st century, we nd numerous feature lms starring journalists of dierent cinematic genres
and typologies, including the following: comedies such as
It Happened One Night (
Frank Capra, 1934),
His Girl Friday
(Howard
Hawks, 1940), and
e Front Page
(Billy Wilder, 1974); dramas such as
Call Northside 777
(Henry Hathaway, 1948),
Ace in the
Hole
(Billy Wilder, 1951),
Network
(Sidney Lumet, 1976), and
e Insider
(Michael Mann, 1999); investigative thrillers such as
All the President’s Men
(Alan J. Paluka, 1976); and exotic adventures such as
e Passenger
(Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975),
e
Year of Living Dangerously
(Peter Weir, 1982), and
e Killing Fields
(Roland Joé, 1984).
In recent years, we have found many productions that deal mainly with investigative journalism, such as
Spotlight
(Tom
McCarthy, 2015),
e Post
(Steven Spielberg, 2017),
Richard Jewell
(Clint Eastwood), and
She Said
(Maria Schrader, 2022). In
between those lms, we nd
Bombshell
(Jay Roach, 2019), which tells the story of three women who confront the Fox media
empire, in addition to war correspondent biopics such as
A Private War
(Matthew Heineman, 2018), and
Another Day of Life
(Raúl de la Fuente and Damian Nenow, 2019).
Despite the variety, these stories do not depict the everyday activity of a newsroom. Instead, their plots use extraordinary
events as a source of dramatic conict. Reecting the journalistic profession in lm has been extensively studied by Saltzman
(2002) and Ehrlich (2006), who collaborated in publishing
Heroes and Scoundrels: e image of the journalist in popular
culture
(Ehrlich and Saltzman, 2015). ere are also numerous studies on the convergence of journalism and lmmaking. In
Spain, Mera Fernández (2008) compared lms that adapt the stories of real journalists with others that are purely ctional.
Moreover, Ofa Bezunartea et al. (2007, 2008a, 2008b and 2010) analyzed journalistic tasks, clichés, female characters, and
narcissistic characters that appear in lm. Recently, Coronado Ruiz (2024) has analyzed stereotypes of female journalists in
algunas de las producciones televisivas que han surgido entre 2012 y 2024 a
raíz del comienzo de
e Newsroom
. El estudio centra la investigación en la
elaboración de una clasicación contemporánea del tipo de personalidad
que ostentan los protagonistas de este tipo de subgénero, partiendo de la
premisa de que las series analizadas deben reejar en sus tramas los com
-
portamientos cotidianos de una redacción televisiva al mismo tiempo que
el peso dramático de los conictos recae sobre un protagonismo coral de los
personajes. El objetivo es mostrar cuál es la construcción dramática de los
personajes preferida por los guionistas para hacer más atractivas e intere
-
santes las tramas de este tipo concreto de series. La investigación ha centrado
su análisis en los tres roles principales que son comunes y característicos de
los informativos televisivos: quién dirige el informativo, quién lo produce y
quién lo presenta. A su estudio se han aplicado las estrategias de guion cine
-
matográco en la elaboración de personajes dramáticos. Las conclusiones
conrman la conuencia de algunos roles.
Palabras clave:
Periodismo; televisión; presentador; productor; serie de TV.
the television productions that have emerged between 2012 and 2024
in the wake of
e Newsroom.
e study examines the development
of a contemporary classication of the personality archetype of the
protagonists of this kind of sub-genre, based on the premise that the
plots of the series analyzed should reect the day-to-day activity of
a television newsroom, while at the same time the dramatic burden
of the conict falls on the ensemble cast. e aim is to determine
which dramatic construction of the characters is preferred by the
scriptwriters for the purpose of making the plots of this specic type
of series more attractive and interesting. is research focuses on
the three main roles that are typical of a television news program:
who directs it, who produces it, and who anchors it. To this end, lm
scripting strategies used to develop dramatic characters have also been
applied to this study. Moreover, the ndings conrm that some of these
roles converge.
Keywords:
Journalism; television; anchor; producer; TV series.
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US series of the last three decades, concluding that the image of these characters “continues to be simplied and stereotyped”
(2024: 242). Other works that stand out include the compilation by Mínguez Santos (2012), as well as specic studies on the
sub-genre of investigative journalism, such as “
El periodismo de investigación en el cine”
[investigative journalism in lms]
(Martínez-Salanova, 2019), and “
Las velocidades del periodismo en el cine: ocho lmes sobre Slow Journalism
” [the speed of
journalism in cinema: eight lms about slow journalism] (Serrano Martín, 2022), among others.
As to why journalistic plots generate interest among the public, Mera Fernández (2008: 507) observed that the protagonists
are “privileged spectators of the important events that happen in the world”. is could explain the success of adventurous
tales starring reporters and war correspondents, as well as investigative plots with the ultimate goal of re-establishing justice.
Nevertheless, it is not very easy to transfer the everyday work newsrooms to lm, as the stories could become lost in a multitude
of plots that might result in a loss of interest and impact on the audience. For this reason, García Martínez and Serrano-Puche
make the following assertion:
“e series format allows us to recreate the daily journalistic routines and work of a newsroom. Moreover, it enables us to focus
on gathering detailed information, on learning how to gain the trust of a source, on managing dead time, on the friction between
employees and managers, on dealing with ethical problems, on confronting dead ends of an investigation, or on the short pieces that
feed into a more far-reaching exclusive” (2013: 280).
In the 21st Century, not only lms but also television series built around journalistic plots started to appear, and what began
as a one-time event such as
e Mary Tyler Moore Show
(1970-1977), followed by its spin-o Lou Grant (1977-1982), and
rounded out by
Murphy Brown
(Diane English, 1988-1998), has become more commonplace over the last twenty-ve years
1
.
e appearance of
Sports Night
(1998-2000), a drama about a TV sports news program,
e Generation Kill
(2008), linked to
the Iraq War from the point of view of a war journalist, as well as
e West Wing
(1999-2006) and
Borgen
(2010-2022), whose
main plots revolve around politics, not only gave journalism a meaningful subplot, but they also paved the way for a succession
of journalistic series. ough not as numerous as other genres such as crime, thrillers, and family dramas, these series have
signicantly increased the production in this genre compared to previous decades.
In this context, the premiere of the television series
e Newsroom
in 2012 represented a substantial divergence from previous
series. On the one hand, it “generated interest and controversy among specialized critics and the public” in terms of its
reception and, on the other hand, it conveyed a “perception of idealism in the way the profession is depicted” (Novoa-Jaso &
Serrano-Puche, 2023: 196). e series aroused such intense interest among media professionals and academics of university
journalism that in some cases it was used as a resource for the deontological training of future journalists, as shown by Nicolás-
Gavilán et al. (2017). Along the same lines, Huerta Floriano and Pérez Morán (2024: 402) have asserted that “the approach to
such a transcendental issue for the sound functioning of democratic societies produced nearly every imaginable eect with
the exception of indierence”.
1
For a more comprehensive list of ctional series about television journalism, we could add the following: the British parody
Not the Nine O’Clock News
(1979);
Argentina’s
Mesa de noticias
[news desk] (1983); another British parody called
Drop the Dead Donkey
(1990); Australia’s
Frontline
(1994); and the American
sitcom
e Naked Truth
(1995).
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is is the essence of the study at hand, because in today’s society where opinion is highly polarized and information is
transmitted without lters, mainly due to the rise of social media, the work of journalists must hold an essential place in
society, if possible, when it comes to communicating news objectively. e rise of journalistic TV series is no coincidence,
especially since 2012, after a nancial crisis with enormous social consequences that began in 2008, along with the emergence
of many populist movements around the world that have ideologically polarized Western society, which coincides with the
loss of faith in the more moderate and traditional political class.
For this reason, the cornerstone of this article lies in the way contemporary series portray the essence of the journalistic
profession, because this “is how journalism fulls one of its most basic principles: the surveillance of public institutions”
(Kovach and Rosenstiel, 2012: 155). Moreover, it “refers to journalism as the ‘fourth estate’, or in other words, as an institution
which, given its public service essence, must control the activity of the legislative, executive, and judicial powers’ (García
Martínez and Serrano-Puche, 2013: 281).
1.1. Objectives
e rst objective of this study is to identify ctional series that are similar, which were released between 2012 and 2024. In
other words, serialized ctional stories that place a team of journalists in a television newsroom and build the plot according
to plausible dramatic conicts that could arise in their daily professional work.
e second objective is to conduct a comparative analysis of the dierent series in our sample with regard to the portrayals of
diverse characters. We will observe whether the real professional roles of the anchor, the producer, and the news director are
found in the journalistic teams of these series
2
.
e third objective is to analyze the dramatic conicts that comprise the backbone of the dierent stories and the transformation
arcs of the characters.
2. Method
2.1. Selection of the simple
e timeframe of 2012-2024 was chosen due to the media impact of the premiere of
e Newsroom
, as many journalism
professionals viewed Sorkin’s portrayal as a lesson on what a reporter’s ethics should be. e scriptwriter used real news
stories to develop plots regarding the professional routines of a television news program, thereby implicitly suggesting how
the news should have been covered at the time. e controversy was so intense that Sorkin publicly apologized: “I have never
tried to lecture journalists on how they should work [...] there has been a terrible misunderstanding” (Europa Press, 2014).
2
To identify the characters in our analysis, we have relied on the classication system established by Novoa-Jaso, Sánchez-Aranda and Serrano-Puche (2019)
regarding the typology of journalists.
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Despite the controversy, the script has an idealistic tone consistent with Sorkin’s previous lm work, which led to a subsequent
inux of series about journalists. e purpose of the article at hand is not to study the impact of
e Newsroom
on its successors,
but rather to identify patterns within the eld of television journalism that will enable the construction of an archetypical,
recurring character in contemporary series of this genre.
e series known as
e Hour
, which started its broadcasts a year before the appearance of
e Newsroom
, and which
logically escaped its possible inuence, has been included due to its having complied with all the requirements of our sample.
Furthermore, the timeframe of this production generally coincides with that of the study.
By contrast, we discarded several programs for the following reasons:
e Crack
(Joel Joan, 2014), and
e Curse
(Fielder and
Safdie, 2023), due to their being reality shows;
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
(2014), because of the lack of an ensemble
cast and a shortage of collaborative work in the newsroom;
UnReal
(Shapiro and Noxon, 2015) due to its being a dating show;
e Producers
(Seo Soo-Min and Pyo Min-soo, 2015), as the plot was set in an entertainment department;
Incarnation of
Jealousy
(Park Shin-woo and Lee Jung-heum, 2016) for prioritizing romance over collaborative newsroom work;
Embeds
(Danny Jelinek, 2017) because its characters work for news agencies;
Murphy Brown II
(Diane English, 2018) for being a sequel
to the iconic 1990s sitcom;
Reboot
(Steven Levitan, 2022), as it narrates the production and lming process of a sitcom;
Nolly
(Russell T. Davies, 2023) because it focuses on developing a soap opera; and
Prime Time
(Cohn and Duprat, 2023), which
prioritizes the investigation of a crime over the routines of a newsroom. ese are just a few examples among many other
series.
Of all the journalistic series examined, our search yielded six that fullled the established requirements: ve are considered
dramedies
, if we adhere to the denition given by Gómez Martínez and García García, according to which these are television
formats that “realistically combine humor and drama without either aspect going to an extreme or clearly dominating’ (2010:
141). e fth is a type of comedy sitcom, “which is heir to a theatrical tradition whose roots can be traced to certain radio
series of the 1930s” (2010: 111), in an attempt to make the viewer laugh by ridiculing the characters.
We have also discarded
Stay Tuned!
(Tadahisa Fujimura, 2017), a Japanese series of merely one season that mixes the sitcom
format with a mockumentary. Despite having a producer and reporters at the TV station, neither the anchors nor the news
director provide enough dramatic relevance for analysis. Also, the dramatic conicts are too insignicant to allow the authors
to compare it with other series.
2.2. Description of the sample
e Hour
(Abi Morgan, 2011-2012), produced by the BBC, consists of two seasons of six episodes each;
e Newsroom
(Aaron
Sorkin, 2012-2014), produced by HBO, consists of three seasons;
Argon
(Lee Yoon-jung, 2017), made by Netix, is a South
Korean miniseries consisting of eight episodes;
e Morning Show
(Jay Carson, 2019-), made by Apple TV+, has three seasons;
e Newsreader
(Michael Lucas, 2021- ) is an Australian production with two seasons; and
Great News
(Tracey Wigeld, 2018)
is a sitcom consisting of two seasons.
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2.3. Methodology
None of the characters is free of conict. e real interest in a dramatic personality comes from the level of diculty of the
conicts they face. As argued by McKee, “e true nature of a character is revealed through the choices each human makes
under pressure: the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, and the more appropriate the choice we make about
the character’s essential nature’ (McKee, 2003: 132). In this regard, several studies arm that the aspects of analysis and
evaluation to be considered when addressing dramatic characters lie in the evolution of their personalities throughout the
story, which corresponds to their psychological features. is point is argued in the respective studies of Forster (1927), Seger
(1993) Sánchez-Escalonilla (2001), Galán Fajardo (2005), Sánchez Noriega (2006), Marks (2009), Truby (2009), Pérez Rufí
(2016), and Gutiérrez Delgado (2023). Likewise, Galán Fajardo and Pérez Rufí also place emphasis on the construction of a
dramatic character based on their physical and sociological aspects.
However, in view of these authors’ agreement on the psychological aspects of the characters, the article at hand will focus on
analyzing and comparing the psychological dimension with the intention of discovering the similarities in the construction
of their personality. us, with regard to the psychological facet of the characters, three aspects will be studied: personality;
desire and need; and the transformation arc. We do not intend to develop an original and innovative methodology, but rather
to apply a series of parameters for analyzing characters that are widely acknowledged among scriptwriters.
1) Personality prevents each character from “becoming a human being that is unrealistic”. erefore, the persona must be built
on human psychology, “which distinguishes two integrating principles of personality: temperament and character” (Sánchez-
Escalonilla, 2001: 276). Temperament “is the innate and spontaneous dimension of personality’ (idem), which does not vary
throughout the life of an individual, because if a change were to occur it would aect the personality in a way that would cause
the advent of a new person. On the other hand, character refers to “the stamp left on the personality by the free actions of an
individual and the education received’ (idem). In ction, we often work on the psychological typologies applied to reality by
Hippocrates and Jung. For both philosophers, temperament is dened by a person’s extroversion or introversion, depending
on the degree of interrelation the individual has with the environment. However, character is where viewpoints diverge. For
Hippocrates, character is the degree of stability or instability of a person in relation to the fragility or strength that they exercise
over the control of their emotions and feelings. us, there are people who are sanguine (extrovert-stable), choleric (extrovert-
unstable), phlegmatic (introvert-stable), and melancholic (introvert-unstable). For Jung, people forge their character based on
four ways of behaving when facing a problem. e
reective
individual “shows a special ability to detect and solve a problem”
(Sánchez-Escalonilla, 2001: 283); the
sensitive
person “is more interested in the people who suer from those problems rather
than in the solution” (idem); the
perceptive
person “is skilled at imminent conicts... these are highly sensorial individuals
who are aware of objects before people”; and nally, the
intuitive
person “is able to see problems projected into the future
and seek solutions, but rarely oers a rational explanation... they anticipate events with a precision that baes those who are
reective” (idem). According to Jung, a combination of the two types of temperament and four kinds of character result in eight
psychological typologies that dene people and, of course, ctional characters.
In this regard, Galán Fajardo considers that “there are four areas of psychology that dene the internal character of a ctional
personality, which are the following: the hidden past, the unconscious, the types of characters, and abnormal psychology, all
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of which are indispensable for its understanding” (2005: 272). Of the four aspects, we are interested in the one referring to
character types, which is directly related to the ideas of Sánchez-Escalonilla.
For Pérez Rufí, the psychological aspect depends on whether a character is
at
or
round
according to the degree of complexity
of its dramatic construction. He denes the round character as one that is “full of ambiguity and doubt, and who is unstable and
full of contrasts”, while the at character “is built upon a single idea or quality and is easily identied, as they are unchangeable”
(2016: 541). In his study of aspects of a novel, Forster was the rst to distinguish between at and round characters. He argued
that the former are dened by a single idea or quality, while the latter have the ability to surprise in a convincing way, since
they bring with them the unpredictability of life (1927: 48-55). Likewise, Sánchez Noriega approaches these same categories
following Forster’s example, yet this author adds that the traits of the at character “make them behave in a predictable way”
(2006: 53). For his part, Seger delves into the multidimensionality of a character by giving them three characteristics on which
to build their personality: their way of thinking, the ability to make decisions, and their emotional life: “e character is built
when all of these aspects work together. ey enter the story by adopting certain attitudes (mindset), actions (decisions), and
emotions (emotional life), and when they leave the story, they having changed on each of these levels” (1993: 208).
2) Desire “is what the protagonist wants in the story; his or her particular goal... the driving force” (Truby, 2009: 62). Need “is
what the protagonist must full internally in order to improve their life’ (2009: 58). Both aspects comprise the two factors that
enable them to reach the goal. erefore, weakness is necessary for transformation to take place. Marks calls it the
fatal aw
,
which “distinguishes an aspect of the character that not only denes his or her behavior, but also establishes the inner conict
that guides the story” (2009: 115).
3) e transformation arc traces the character’s evolution from their initial identity to the appearance of their true personality
based on psychological criteria, and driven by their desires and needs, which outline the way they learn the lessons of life in the
story. is occurs based on the obstacles encountered in the plot, which sometimes shape the character, and the temperament
on other occasions as well, because “every inner change manifests itself in the personality” (Sánchez-Escalonilla, 2001: 350).
erefore, narrating the development of a character “forces us to explore the recesses of the human soul [and, therefore,] ... to
lay out arcs of transformation” (2001: 292). e dierent transformation arcs are dened as
at
when neither the character’s
personality nor their thinking evolves in the plot; they are
moderate
when the ctional character maintains their temperament
and character, yet there is an evolution in their way of thinking; they are
radical
when the “dominant life force gives up its
preeminent position in favor of another” (2001: 293). In other words, this occurs when ctional characters modify their
personalities according to Hippocrates, Jung, or both; and nally, they are
circular
when the character undergoes a radical
evolution, generally during the second act, only to return to their initial personality during the third act.
For his part, Seger addresses the development of the transformation arc under a dierent name, yet essentially in a way that
is similar to the above denition. He argues that every transformation arc is sustained by two positions: the
initial position
is
dened by the way of thinking, the way of making decisions, and the character’s emotional life, which dene the character in
the approach to the story; and a
process of evolution
, which can be determined by the character’s transformation toward the
following two mutually exclusive positions: the
moderate position
, from which the character modies the emotional dimension
of their life, and even the way of thinking; and the
extreme position
, when the change also includes decision-making, or actions.
As can be seen, this classication is similar to the moderate and radical arcs proposed by Sánchez-Escalonilla.
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Marks also arms the possibility of a character’s transformation, approaching the issue as a triad of mutually dependent
conicts, so that the main discord cannot be resolved without the character overcoming the inner strife that stops them from
taking action, and rst resolving the relational conict that keeps the character inwardly paralyzed (2009: 165).
3. Results
3.1. e characters’ personalities
3.1.1. The Hour
Table 1. Main characters of
e Hour
and their occupation
CharacterOccupation
Freddie Lyon Reporter and anchor
Hector MaddenNews anchor
Bel Rowley
Producer
Clarence FendleyNews director (T.1)
Randall BrownNews director (T.1)
Source: prepared by the authors
Fendley is characterized as an enigmatic and observant personality. He does not speak more than is necessary, and he confronts
the owners of the network when they ask him to make the editorial line more supportive of the government. Moreover, the
revelation in the last episode of his being a Soviet spy gives him a personality which, according to Hippocrates would be
phlegmatic, and according to Jung would be an intuitive introvert, since the real purpose of his work, apart from managing the
network’s news, is to recruit disciples among the British to supply information to the USSR. His double-dealing is doomed to
failure when his intentions are discovered by Lyon.
Meanwhile, the new head of the news department, Brown, displays a condent personality who does not hesitate to make
tough decisions when the professional or personal situation calls for it. ese judgements, however, suggest a pragmatic
attitude that avoids jeopardizing the program and his position in the face of government pressure. Nevertheless, he ultimately
becomes more idealistic and committed to the journalistic profession. us, according to Hippocrates and Jung, Brown has a
sanguine and perceptive-extrovert personality as well.
Rowley, on the other hand, is a tough and astute producer who always tries to inform the public while remaining objective. In this
regard, she concurs with Lyon’s ideals of making a program that objectively informs the audience. Moreover, the love triangle she
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enters into with Madden and his wife, and the nal decision she makes to put aside the interests of her heart, reveal a stable character,
even if she has at times surrendered to the temptation of love. For this reason, Rowley is considered a sanguine and reective extrovert.
Finally, the two anchors Lyon and Madden could not be more antagonistic. Lyon also works as a reporter. He is idealistic,
always in search of the truth, and committed to democracy and the need for journalism aimed at informing without ltering
for scoops or giving biased reporting, in his opinion. is situation causes regular confrontations with his superiors, except for
Rowley, who supports his view. His personality is that of a sanguine and reective extrovert.
Madden is a person subject to manipulation, who has no appreciation for journalism; all he wants to do is satisfy his ego and
lust for success. In fact, he has been appointed as an anchor by his father-in-law, who is a shareholder in the broadcasting
company. For him, the ideal news program is the one that involves as little commitment as possible. is attitude makes him
lose his temper on various occasions, especially when he is under pressure from Lyon and Rowley. erefore, the personality
that best describes his behavior is a choleric and perceptive extrovert.
3.1.2. The Newsroom
Table 2. e main characters of e Newsroom and their occupation
CharacterOccupation
Will McAvoy Anchor
MacKenzie McHale
Producer
Charlie SkinnerACN News Director
Source: prepared by the authors
Skinner’s personality can be described as romantic and idealistic, which leads to his making a drastic decision in the rst
episode: to make a program that simply reports the facts, without being inuenced by the ideological bias of the news, “because
the important thing in democracy is to have a well-informed electorate” (1x01). At the same time, he must stand rm in his
decision in the face of pressure from the more pragmatic and self-interested owners of the station, represented by Leona
Lansing and her son Reese, whose goal is to meet the nancial objectives of the business. His extroverted temperament and
stable character make Skinner a sanguine personality, according to Hippocrates, and a reective extrovert, according to Jung.
McHale’s idea of journalism matches the new spirit that Skinner hopes to bring to the program. Moreover, she is the one who
can best deal with the self-centered and arrogant personality of the anchor, as they had a romantic relationship in the past. As
head of news production, her main task is to convince McAvoy to make a commitment to oering an objective and truthful
news program, while at the same time prevent him from thinking about ratings. McHale has a sanguine personality, according
to Hippocrates, and is a sensitive extrovert based on Jung’s psychology, which allows her to “remain faithful to the values she
knows” and not fall in love “with the wrong person” (1x01).
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McAvoy, on the other hand, has a bold and impetuous personality. He is impulsive when faced with situations beyond his
control. In front of an audience, he can maintain an aable and friendly tone, even if his attitude were insolent or overly
eusive just moments before going on the air. His ability to adapt emotionally to the demands of the situation displays a
sanguine personality. For Jung, he would be considered a perceptive extrovert, as the character is governed by a cynical,
realistic and pragmatic attitude based on ratings.
3.1.3. Argon
Table 3. e main characters of Argon and their occupation
CharacterOccupation
Kim Baek-jin
Anchor
Sin Chul
Producer
Source: prepared by the authors
ere is not a news director in this series, as the role is carried out by the anchor instead. Baek-jin is a withdrawn and patient
character who carries an inner wound caused by the death of his wife. is experience has turned him into a phlegmatic and
intuitive introvert. However, he has a total commitment to the truth, and despite his introverted temperament he stands up to
the owners of the TV station in order to maintain the veracity of the information.
Producer Sin Chul is Baek-jin’s faithful squire, yet he is much more confrontational in his dealings with other people. He has
a personality that leads him to make drastic and improvised decisions to remain loyal to his conscience, even if he himself is
harmed by those decisions. ese traits make him a choleric and sensitive extrovert.
3.1.4. The Morning Show
Table 4. Main characters of e Morning Show and their occupation
CharacterOccupation
Alex Lev
yAnchor
Bradley Jackson
Anchor
Cory EllisonUBA News Director
Chip Black
Producer
Source: prepared by the authors
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Levy has a mainly sanguine personality who, according to Jungian typologies, is a perceptive extrovert as well. She is likeable
and able to disguise her feelings of rejection. Moreover, she performs well in social circles and does not allow her emotions to
inuence her professional activity. is is how she maintains her position as a news anchor while her former colleague, Mitch,
is regularly criticized. ough constrained by political correctness, she knows how to compromise and please others so as not
to damage her reputation.
Jackson is also mostly sanguine, although her impulsiveness can be related to the choleric type as well, yet with an outgoing
and intuitive demeanor. Her spontaneity and sincerity appeal to audiences, who believe she is synonymous with authenticity.
ese character traits lead her to champion noble causes and even to be politically incorrect, which leads to immediate tension
with those who do not share her point of view.
Ellison also has a mainly sanguine temperament, coupled with an outgoing and intuitive personality. Despite his intentions
to restructure the TV station, he has no specic program to do so: he is guided by intuition and is deeply pragmatic, willing to
modify his plans if he considers it more useful for the broadcaster. He hires Jackson on a whim, and despite the uncertainty of
what could happen he enjoys the daily tasks without giving it much thought. For this reason, his psychological prole is not
that of a perceptive personality, because rather than pursuing his own benet he is more interested in the well-being of the
station.
As producer of the news team, Black is a sanguine and thoughtful extrovert. Not only is he rational and orderly, but he resolves
crisis situations as well, even if he dislikes improvisation and uncertainty. Moreover, he acts as Levy’s advisor when she goes
too far.
3.1.5. The Newsreader
Table 5. e main characters of e Newsreader and their occupation
CharacterOccupation
Helen Norvill
eAnchor
Dale Jennings
Anchor
Dennis Tibb
Producer
Lindsay CunninghamNews Director
Source: prepared by the authors
As for Norville, she has a mostly sanguine personality and is a reective extrovert as well. Her glamour is attractive to both the
TV crew and the audience, and she is not afraid to commit herself to risky projects, nor does she compromise in the face of
injustice. However, she sometimes displays insecurity and occasionally doubts her decisions, both professionally and in her
relationships with others, which leads to distancing herself and breaking the bonds of aection.
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Jennings is phlegmatic and sensitive introvert. Due to his diculty in establishing emotional bonds, he exudes inner complexity
and hesitates to share his feelings with others, as he does not even understand himself. Despite his apparent rationality and
control of the situation, his sensitivity sometimes leads him to become irrational in extreme situations.
Tibb, on the other hand, is mostly sanguine, according to Hippocrates’ ideas, and a perceptive extrovert according to Jung.
Although he is poor at reasoning, he is pragmatic. e actions he takes as producer are not daring, as he relies instead on
Cunningham’s decisions to reject certain news items. Moreover, he seems rather lazy and even ignorant in some of the
newsroom meetings.
Finally, Cunningham has a choleric personality, according to Hippocrates, and a perceptive-extrovert personality, according
to Jung. Although he is a well-respected professional with a nose for news, his aggressive and dismissive way of dealing with
reporters, as well as his racial prejudice, make him a dicult character to deal with.
3.1.6. Great News
Table 6. e main characters of Great News and their occupation
CharacterOccupation
Katie Wendelson
Reporter
Greg Walsh
Producer
Chuck Pierce
Anchor
Portia Scott-Grith
Anchor
Source: prepared by the authors
e personality of Wendelson is both sanguine and sensitive-extrovert. ough insecure, she is cheerful, hardworking, and
stable. She is very interested in the opinion of her team, avoids falling in love with Walsh, and feels she is undervalued given
the tasks she is expected to carry out in the newsroom.
Walsh has a phlegmatic and reective-extrovert personality. Underscoring his British background, his personal life is a mystery
to his workmates. Moreover, he is often unfriendly when communicating with his anchors and reporters.
Veteran anchor Pierce exhibits a demeanor that is both extrovert-choleric and perceptive. Obsessed with being popular, he has
made compromises throughout his career in order to keep his position as an anchor. His arrogance, the reluctance to innovate,
and his refusal to accept new ways of doing things results in rejection by his team.
Portia, on the other hand, is a sanguine and perceptive extrovert. Although she is young, modern, and feminist like Pierce, she
is also pragmatic, realistic, and lacking in ideals. However, her sanguine personality, which is unlike that of Pierce, leads to her
being accepted by the newsroom.
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3.2. Desires, needs, and the transformation arc
From Lyon’s opening monologue,
e Hour
makes a commitment to objective news as the essence of quality journalism.
Truthful information is absolutely everything. In this regard, the character of Fendley, who is news director in the rst season,
has no needs other than to avoid being discovered as a spy, yet he wants to recruit followers who are sympathetic to the
communist ideals of the USSR. As he fails to undergo any evolution, the psychological prole of Fendley’s behavior remain
stable, thereby displaying a at transformation arc.
Brown, however, has a need; he dares not break the government’s rules about how the news program is to be run, yet he
is eventually driven by the desire to tell the truth no matter who falls by the wayside. He remains sanguine in terms of the
Hippocratic aspect of his psychological prole, yet he undergoes an evolution in line with the ideas of Jung. is is displayed
by his submissive obedience to the government mandate not to broadcast any material that could be detrimental to those at
the executive level, and his character evolves into that of a reective extrovert who strives to broadcast the truth despite the
consequences for the powers that be. Furthermore, the same evolution continues in his search for his missing daughter.
As producer of the program and Lyon’s main supporter, Rowley, in her idealistic crusade, has a personal need: to live with
Madden, with whom she has fallen in love, even though she knows the diculties of maintaining a relationship with a married
man. In the professional realm, her desire is reected in her ambition to broadcast honest news without a subjective slant.
From the beginning of the series to the end, she exhibits a sanguine and reective-extrovert personality, and she keeps her feet
on the ground while never doubting the service that the television program should oer to the citizens of a democracy. us,
her transformation arc is at.
Finally, the psychological proles of the two anchors undergo very dierent transformation arcs. On the one hand, Lyon’s
need takes shape in his reckless behavior in search of the truth, which impels him to put his life at risk on many occasions.
Driven by idealism, his desire coincides with that of Rowley: to communicate the news to society in an objective way. He
remains the same throughout the series, so his personality does not evolve, even though it has been constantly tested. us,
his transformation arc is at.
Madden has several crippling needs: he is an inveterate womanizer and his commitment to news is far from the truth, as his
main aspiration is to maintain his standard of living, which results in a pragmatic life. Desired objectives nally settle into his
head when, in the middle of the second season, he makes a commitment to the journalistic profession equal to that of Lyon
and Rowley, discarding everything that has kept him morally half-hearted. us, he has a transformation arc that allows him
to evolve psychologically when he nally makes a commitment to the program and decides to make an eort to broadcast the
truth. His arc of transformation is radical, according to both Hippocrates and Jung, evolving from choleric to sanguine, and
from perceptive-extrovert to reective-extrovert, respectively.
In
e Newsroom
, neither the character of Skinner nor McHale displays any need at the beginning of the story. Nevertheless,
they have one desire: to tell the facts as they are. However, McAvoy has a need, or weakness: he is a despotic and arrogant
character who treats his colleagues as such, and his lack of commitment to reality leads him to deal with news without real
interest so as not to damage his popularity. After learning of Skinner’s new directive, he reluctantly accepts his wish. From then
on, pressure and conict come from outside forces, mainly from the top management of the TV station.
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Skinner, on the other hand, does not evolve according to Hippocrates’ concept: he remains sanguine despite his occasional
angry outbursts resulting from the buckling of his idealistic and rational attitude in the rst season, and at times during the
third season, when social networks threaten to replace the work of the classic journalist. However, according to Jung, the
character becomes a perceptive extrovert, adopting a more pragmatic and materialistic view in order to save the TV station.
As a result, his transformation arc is radical, according to Jung, although the series’ approach to this change is rather comical.
As for McHale, the series’ succession of obstacles and vicissitudes do not bring about any evolution in her personality, neither
in the classication of Hippocrates, nor in that of Jung. erefore, her transformation arc is at.
Nevertheless, McAvoy remains a sanguine psychological type, becoming somewhat more restrained and balanced than at the
beginning of the series. According to Jung’s parameters, he makes a shift from extrovert-perceptive to reective, as he becomes
a person of righteous principles who nally accepts Skinner’s challenge and forges ahead with all its consequences. In this
way, his transformation arc is radical, according to Jung.
In
Argon
, news anchor Baek-jin displays a need, which is the lack of attention his daughter receives due to his professional
commitments, and which gradually causes a greater distance between the two of them. e diculty of balancing his
professional and personal lives is his weakness, which is described in the rst chapter. A longing arises from the successive
clashes he has with his daughter, which makes him realize that he must not sacrice his love for his daughter by dedicating
all his time to his work. He undergoes a small transformation by pushing his idealism to the limit when he places journalistic
duty before his own reputation, because his conscience forces him to report a story that shows his lack of professionalism,
which happened on the same day of his wife’s death. For Baek-jin, however, this circumstance does not lessen his indirect
responsibility in the case, which highlights the character’s high moral character. For this reason, his transformation arc is
moderate: he rediscovers his paternal commitment to his daughter and approaches her.
Sin Chul’s case is similar to that of the anchor, as he feels the need to subordinate his entire personal life to the professional
realm. A desired objective does not appear until he falls in love with a female editor, at which time his mindset starts to change.
He evolves into a sanguine and intuitive extrovert, thereby balancing his personal and professional lives as a result of falling
in love.
Looking at the characters on
e Morning Show
, we see that Levy wants to keep her job as host of the show, and she is willing to
place all the blame for the sexual abuse on Mitch and hire Jackson, if it leads to higher ratings. As she is afraid of losing her job
and reputation, her conict revolves around whether she can overcome this fear, and whether she can stay true to herself by
telling the facts and moving away from political correctness, or if she will just continue to pretend. She undergoes a moderate
transformation, yet with dierent interpretations: she becomes aware of her deciency in setting an example while anchoring
the program with Mitch; she comes to terms with her involvement in the cover-up of the sexual abuse; she acknowledges her
part in the supercial news coverage; and she comes to terms with the pain she has caused to her family. is results in her
teaming up with Jackson at the end of the rst season to expose Fred, who is the owner of the station. However, there is an
ongoing inner conict between whether she is acting out of selessness or from a hidden desire not to damage her reputation,
as the concern for her image continues in the second season (Maggie’s book). Moreover, she fails to resolve her family conict,
and she is not able to end the relationship with Mitch.
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Jackson wants to change society for the better through journalism. erefore, she obviously does not want to work for a
prestigious media outlet. Nevertheless, she appreciates being hired by
e Morning Show
, as she now has a larger audience for
exposing social problems. Of all the characters in the series, she is the most idealistic. Her dramatic conict arises from the clash
between her idealism and the show’s pragmatism: although she wants to be honest and address politically incorrect topics, she
must continually decide whether to give in to the demands of production. In Jackson, we see a radical transformation of her
character. e impetuous behavior she displays at the beginning is moderated for the purpose of conforming to the demands
of television journalism. Moreover, she also loses her initial quixotic ideas in order embrace pragmatism, which occurs at the
end of the second season. As such, she claims to be responsible and loyal to the network in order to keep the show on the air,
yet the program loses its initial freshness and spontaneity that dened it at the beginning.
As for Ellison, his desire is to regain the lost reputation of UBA in the wake of Mitch’s sex scandal. As news director, he nds
himself caught between the newsroom and Fred. He wants to bring new ideas to the newsroom and avoid past mistakes,
so his dramatic conict is between siding with political incorrectness and the new approach embodied in Jackson, or
pragmatism, silence, and the fear of a paradigm shift embodied in Levy and Fred. Regarding Ellison, he undergoes a moderate
transformation, yet it is more personal than professional. Although he remains true to his personality, his initial independent
behavior is overlaid by his dependence on and infatuation with Jackson.
Lastly, Black’s conict stems from the debate between producing fresh, politically incorrect content or continuing to rely on
the innocuous and supercial reporting of the past. In the same vein, he hesitates between confessing what he knows about
the alleged sexual abuse or remaining silent to protect the station. He undergoes a very moderate transformation in the rst
season when he decides to take part in reporting the abuse. However, his involvement is blurred in the second season.
Consequently, the dramatic conict on
e Morning Show
is based on a previous situation of journalistic and labor malpractice.
Faced with this situation, the characters are torn between exploring what has happened in depth, which in some cases would
entail acknowledging their own guilt, or keeping silent and continuing to produce the same supercial infotainment content.
As for
e Newsreader
, Norville wants to regain her prestige as an anchor and gain inuence over production decisions.
Following a career decline due to relationship and health issues, she aspires to become a prestigious anchor once again.
Loss of aection and self-esteem are problems she needs to overcome. Conict arises from professional strain with Geo
and Cunningham regarding whether or not to give in to their labor demands, and romantic tension with Jennings regarding
whether to get involved with him or not. Given the situation, Norville undergoes a circular transformation. Her initially
sanguine temperament takes on a melancholic tone as a result of her conict, and later becomes sanguine once again. e
viewer sees her as a talented and independent journalist, yet one who has fallen from grace due to loneliness and insecurity. As
the episodes progress, she regains her self-condence and the courage not only to anchor the news, but also to lead a team of
people in search of an exclusive story. Based on the theories of Jung, she loses her reectiveness in order to become sensitive,
and later returns to being reective again.
Jennings is mainly interested in professional recognition, not in a general sense, but from a specic female character embodied
in Norville. Jennings strongly desires Norville’s admiration, and the conict results from the romantic tension between the two.
His rise and fall in the profession, his achievements, and his insecurities, are linked to Norville’s greater or lesser recognition.
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Jennings undergoes a radical transformation as he gradually changes from being introverted and phlegmatic to a more
sanguine personality. Professionally, he overcomes his shyness to lead projects and report the news on the scene. Above all,
he changes emotionally: in his romantic relationship with Norville, he never made a full commitment because he did not
conde in her with his most intimate secrets. Forced by circumstances, such as the revelation of his brush with homosexuality,
he confesses his complex personal situation and shares his feelings.
Cunningham does not display any specic need beyond maintaining the prestige of the station’s news desk, which is the same
for Tibb in his role as producer. On successive occasions, the two appear in the same camera shot, which indicates similar
views in the way they run the news desk. is is further evidenced by the nal conversation with Jennings when he is told in
a matter-of-fact way that he will substitute Geo in anchoring the news. Although these two characters remain at, the latter
begins to appreciate Noele when she starts to acquire sports knowledge.
Finally, we must bear in mind the sitcom format of
Great News
. Due to her insecurity, Wendelson has a desire to be recognized
and valued professionally. Her need is linked to self-esteem and how she is perceived by others. us, her purpose is to
uncover an exclusive story and gain inuence in the newsroom. As for Walsh, his conict is linked to the infatuation he feels
for Wendelson. As a producer, he does not want a relationship that might interfere with his professional work. Both characters
undergo a moderate transformation. Although their temperament and character do not change, Walsh learns to communicate
and have conversations with Wendelson, and he is more exible in the profession. Finally, Wendelson gains self-esteem
despite the opinion of her mother, as well as the views of Walsh and her colleagues.
Regarding Pierce, as an anchor he feels the need to maintain his popularity with the public. He undergoes a radical
transformation from choleric to sanguine, and from a perceptive extrovert to an intuitive extrovert: the formerly pragmatic
coward becomes an idealist. As for Portia, although she has the support of the audience and the newsroom sta, she has a
strong desire to be recognized by a veteran anchor like Pierce. Consequently, her character is at.
4. Discussion and conclusions
ere seems to be a common belief that an anchor must have an extroverted temperament, which is considered essential and
dramatically necessary in order for scriptwriters to create a prole of charismatic personalities. ere are only two cases of
dramedies in which the character is developed based on an introverted temperament. ese are Baek-jin (
Argon
) and Jennings
(
e Newsreader
).
Both of these characters experience inner conict arising from events in the distant past. ese events have left a mark on each
individual, with which they are still struggling. In the case of Baek-jin, it involves the death of his wife. As for Jennings, there
was a homosexual encounter, which he keeps hidden, yet it generates internal conict to such an extent that it prevents him
from interacting naturally with other people. Regarding the other anchors, although they experience inner conicts that arise
during the development of the plots, these struggles do not involve traumatic events for the characters, but instead revolve
around personal aws they must confront.
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Table 7. Temperament, character, and transformation arc of the anchors and reporters
Anchors and reporters
SeriesCharacter(Hippocrates)(Jung)
Transformation arc
e Hour
Freddie Lyon
(reporter and
anchor)
Sanguine
Reective
extrovert
Flat
Hector Madden
(anchor)
Choleric
Perceptive
extrovert
Radical transformation
He evolves into a sanguine
and reective extrovert
e Newsroom
Will McAvoy
Sanguine
Perceptive
extrovert
Radical transformation
Evolves into being reective
Argon
Kim Baek-jin
Phlegmatic
Intuitive introvert
Flat
e Morning
Show
Alex Levy
Sanguine
Perceptive
extrovert
Radical transformation
Evolves into being reective
Bradley Jackson
Sanguine
Intuitive extrovert
Radical transformation
Evolves into perceptive
e Newsreader
Helen Norville
Sanguine
Reective extrovert
Round
Dale Jennings
Phlegmatic
Sensitive introvert
Radical transformation
Evolves into Sanguine
Evolves into a reective
extrovert
Great News
KatieSanguine
Sensitive extrovert
Moderate
ChuckCholeric
Perceptive
extrovert
Radical transformation
Evolves into being sanguine
Evolves into an intuitive
extrovert
PortiaSanguine
Perceptive
extrovert
Flat
Source: prepared by the authors
Regarding the producers, they all have extroverted temperaments, which is typical of professionals who must know how to
organize the work of a team always pressed for time. e exception is
Great News
, which gets its humor specically from the
phlegmatic personality of the producer Walsh.
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Table 8. Temperament, character, and transformation arc of the producers
Producers
Series
Character(Hippocrates)(Jung)
Transformation arc
e Hour
Bel Rowley
Sanguine
Reective
extrovert
Flat
e Newsroom
MacKenzie
McHale
Sanguine
Sensitive extrovert
Flat
Argon
Sin Chul
Choleric
Sensitive extrovert
Radical transformation
Evolves into sanguine and intuitive
e Morning
Show
Chip Black
Sanguine
Reective
extrovert
Flat
e Newsreader
Dennis Tibb
Sanguine
Reective
extrovert
Flat
Great News
GregPhlegmatic
Reective
extrovert
Moderate
Source: prepared by the authors
Regarding the directors, it can be armed that an extroverted temperament coupled with management skills also dominates,
except in the case of Fendley, whose double-dealing leads him to be cautious and not reveal his true intentions.
Table 9. Temperament, character, and transformation arc of the news directors
News directors
SeriesCharacter
(Hippocrates)
(Jung)
Transformation arc
e Hour
Clarence Fendley
Phlegmatic
Intuitive introvert
Flat
Randall Brown
Sanguine
Preceptive
extrovert
Radical transformation
Evolves into a reective
extrovert
e Newsroom
Charlie Skinner
Sanguine
Reective
extrovert
Radical transformation
Evolves into being perceptive
e Morning Show
Cory Ellison
Sanguine
Intuitive extrovert
Moderate
e Newsreader
Lindsay
Cunningham
Choleric
Perceptive
extrovert
Flat
Source: prepared by the authors
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When analyzing a character, it is much more common to nd stable personalities, according to Hippocrates, which is inspired
by the prototypical hero who is willing to ght for objective information in a situation where unbiased facts dominate. Jackson,
McAvoy and Madden nd it hard to engage in the same ght, as they struggle to control their choleric impulses. ey must
constantly grapple with the uneasiness of life that is in conict with their professional side.
A stable character is also prevalent among the producers, except in the case of Chul, who displays a certain degree of instability
at the outset, due to his being an impulsive person who does not know how to exercise common courtesy regardless of who
he is talking to.
A similar situation occurs with the directors, as a stable character is prevalent, except for Cunningham, whose cantankerous
behavior with everyone on the editorial sta of
e Newsreader
often borders on abuse and makes his behavior nearly
unbearable for his colleagues.
However, if the characters are analyzed according to Jung’s psychological proles, there is no standard model to follow, since
the character that denes directors, producers and anchors varies according to the series and the conicts that emerge, nor
can any common patterns be established. In this regard, it can be armed that what is truly important in creating an attractive
character is to make them stable, rather than to establish a common model for the way they face problems. As a result,
scriptwriters do not see the need to establish an ideal pattern.
Regarding the desire-need duality, which leads to overcoming a aw in order to achieve a goal, it can be concluded that
most of the characters have the desire to create honest newscasts committed to the truth, regardless of their role. Cynicism
and pragmatism are either not the purpose of the protagonists, or in some cases they are aws that must be overcome in
order for the character to exhibit their true personality. In this regard, the only characters that deviate from the common
criteria are news directors Fendley and Cunningham, producers Sin Chul and Walsh, and anchors Levy, Wendelson, Jennings
and Norville. However, among the shortcomings there is a large and miscellaneous set of needs that make it impossible to
obtain a common measure. Among these aws, the following can be found; a lack of courage, recklessness, rudeness, excessive
dedication to work, pragmatism, a lack of self-esteem, and the desire to please the audience.
Regarding the evolution of the characters as the transformation arc unfolds, there is a tendency among the news directors not
to change their personalities. e only characters who break this mold are Skinner and Brown, yet for very dierent reasons.
In Skinner’s case, he undergoes a radical evolution along the lines of Jung’s characteristics, yet he does so on a comic level
that has little to do with serious drama. However, Brown’s situation takes place on a more somber level being aligned with a
commitment to convey the truth.
As for the producers, a at transformation arc also dominates, either due to their status as secondary characters in the plot (e.g.
Tibb and Black) or, even if they are main characters like McHale and Rowley, the reason could be that the obstacles they face
further reinforce their initial ideas. Basically, these characters are free of inner conict and their role is subordinated to that
of the anchors they work for, who either make their mission easier, as in the case of Rowley, McHale and Black, or hinder it, as
in the case of Tibb. Only Chul undergoes a radical transformation, which is even consistent with both Hippocrates’ and Jung’s
parameters, thereby achieving a more stable life balance.
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Regarding the anchors, there is more variety with a recurring phenomenon of radical personality transformation. Madden,
Levy, Jackson, Pierce and McAvoy are characters who evolve into journalists more committed to the values of free and
democratic journalism, which is typical of a democracy, except in the case of Jackson who becomes more pragmatic as he
loses his initial idealism and starts to obey the orders of those in charge. As for Norville, she displays a round arc due to the fact
that she nishes the series as an exemplary character, just like at the beginning, because despite having suered personality
setbacks during the story, she nally overcomes them and renews her original essence. e only characters who do not evolve
are Lyon and Baek-jin, but for dierent reasons. Lyon keeps his personality intact despite the obstacles that his idealistic nature
must confront as he struggles to comply with news ethics. For his part, we could say that Baek-jin fails due to his inability to
overcome the wound he carries around following the death of his wife. In the end, his idealism is disregarded because he fails
to implement his ideals into the guidelines of the network.
5. Acknowledgements
is article has been translated into English by Charles E. Arthur, to whom we are grateful for his work.
6. Specic contributions of each author
Name and Surname
Conception and design of the workJosé Gabriel Lorenzo López and Pablo
Úrbez
Fernández
Methodology
José Gabriel Lorenzo López and Pablo
Úrbez
Fernández
Data collection and analysisJosé Gabriel Lorenzo López and Pablo
Úrbez
Fernández
Discussion and conclusionsJosé Gabriel Lorenzo López and Pablo
Úrbez
Fernández
Drafting, formatting, version review and approvalJosé Gabriel Lorenzo López and Pablo
Úrbez
Fernández
7. Conict of interest
e authors declare that there is no conict of interest contained in this article.
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