Jeff Daniels: ‘Newsroom’ was about balance and need to stay informed

Jeff Daniels and the rest of the fictional journalists employed at Atlantis Cable News exited ’The Newsroom’ last month.

Although the HBO drama concluded after three seasons what Mr. Daniels learned in his role as anchor Will McAvoy on the series apparently stayed with him. Mr. Daniels was recently in the Washington, D.C. area touring behind his sixth album ’Days Like These.’ Although his focus was on the album and the then-recently released movie ’Dumb and Dumber To’ with Jim Carrey, he spoke about news with the authority of a true journalist or at least a true student of journalism.

“This isn’t a right or left message. I wish people would understand that. It’s not about politics,” said Mr. Daniels of the underlying theme of the series, which was principally written by creator Aaron Sorkin. “This is a message of news balance, of the need for people to stay as informed as possible.”

That message was lost to many, though, almost as soon as the series premiered on June 24, 2012. One catalyst for the criticism was a line by the fictional Mr. McAvoy:

“The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.”

Critics used the line in the premiere episode as proof of the show’s bias.

But there were other factors that clouded what Mr. Daniels called the larger message of the show. Greg Gutfeld, of Fox News, who called the show “Aaron Sorkin’s lefty gas-cloud,” also cited former CBS News Anchor Dan Rather’s praise of the show as evidence of its political bias. “Dan liked the show because it’s what [he thinks] news should be, i.e., liberal,” wrote Mr. Gutfeld.

But Mr. Daniels maintains that the show was meant to inspire the public to pay closer attention to news, to ferret out unvarnished truths, especially during election cycles.

Indeed, Mr. Sorkin and entire cast put an incredible amount of passion and energy into the show. Mr. Sorkin, he said, took on the Herculean task of writing the majority of the show.

Although it took about three seasons for the show to hit its peak, Mr. Daniels said he is incredibly proud of the project, which earned him the 2013 Emmy Award for “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.”

While many speculate about what movie roles Mr. Daniels may accept in the next year or two, he said he’s quite content at this point to play and record music with the band founded by his son — The Ben Daniels’ Band.

“There’s something about looking over and seeing your son near you on stage,” said Mr. Daniels. “If I never do anything else but this, I’ll be happy.”