TV Talk: Subscribe to ABC’s ‘Alaska Daily,’ a newspaper drama with low-key ‘West Wing’ vibes

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week.

Comparisons among TV series are tricky.

It’s unfair to burden a new show with high expectations by comparing it to a past critical hit. But saying “if you like X, you might like Y” is also a way to cut through the clutter and get viewers to take notice of a program in a 500+ series universe.

Watching ABC’s “Alaska Daily” (10 p.m. Thursday, WTAE-TV), I couldn’t help but think of NBC’s “The West Wing.” Just as “West Wing” was a love letter to civil servants, “Alaska Daily” wants to shine a positive spotlight on journalists and local journalism. That may prove a fool’s errand in an environment where 30% of the country can’t agree on truth and reality, but there’s enough potential in “Alaska Daily,” to easily be fall broadcast TV’s best drama pilot that it’s worth rooting for this series that’s earnest without being cloying, sincere without getting sappy.

And it’s accurate.

“Alaska Daily” gets the details right when it comes to modern newspapering, from downsized offices to analytics displayed on screens around the newsroom showing the day’s most popular stories.

Hilary Swank stars as Eileen Fitzgerald, a suffers-no-fools New York reporter who breaks a big story and then finds herself ostracized over accusations of inaccuracies in the article. In addition, her brusque demeanor doesn’t sit well with her colleagues, especially younger women in the newsroom.

To be sure, “Alaska Daily” isn’t as confident or as fully formed as “West Wing” was in its pilot episode, but the dialogue does crackle at times.

“This is a newsroom, not a daycare,” Eileen says in response to accusations of her rough treatment of a young colleague when factual inaccuracies in her story arise. “That’s how you learn. That’s how I learned. We can choose not to back down. We can choose to fight and stop acting like a bunch of woke wussies more interested in eating their own than reporting the news.”

Credit Swank’s snappy dialogue to series creator-writer Tom McCarthy, who previously wrote Oscar-winner “Spotlight,” the 2015 movie about the true story of the Boston Globe’s reporting on a child molestation scandal and cover-up by the Roman Catholic Church.

Months later, Eileen’s former boss from earlier in her career, Stanley Cornik (Jeff Perry, “Scandal”), recruits her to write for The Daily Alaskan in Anchorage. Eileen immediately rubs some of her new colleagues the wrong way, including acting news editor Bob Young (Matt Malloy) and reporter Roz Friendly (Grace Dove).

Stanley tasks Eileen and Roz with investigating the murder of an indigenous woman, one of many, that will be an ongoing, serialized arc through the first season of the show.

As much as “Alaska Daily” is a series about newspaper journalism, it has the mystery element of the reporters’ investigations that serves as a spine to the series.

The show benefits from a supporting cast of mostly fresh faces who don’t carry the baggage of past roles. While the pilot is almost entirely focused on Swank’s character, there’s the potential for the rest of the ensemble to get more to do and for their characters to develop and grow.

Swank settles into her role better following an early rage-filled scene that’s pretty over-the-top, even for a character as bold as Eileen.

Near the end of the premiere, “Alaska Daily” puts Eileen in the role of wisdom-dispenser when a young colleague frets about writing a story that will potentially ruin the family life of a crooked businessman.

“This job isn’t easy and we don’t do it to be liked. We do it because it matters,” Eileen tells rookie reporter Jieun Park (Ami Park). “He did something illegal and he did it with money that belongs to every single person in this state. You think the New York Times is gonna cover this? The Post? No. This is exactly why local journalism matters, why this very small, underfunded paper in this crappy strip mall matters. Alaskans deserve to know. They’ll decide, not you.”

During ABC’s portion of the Television Critics Association virtual summer 2022 press tour, McCarthy said with feature film “Spotlight,” he didn’t have much time to delve into the characters of the reporters and what makes them tick, something “Alaska Daily” allows him to do.

“Why is their work so important, not just to our communities and our country, but the world at large, specifically at a time where we’ve seen recurring violence against reporters that’s come after years and years of really targeted and systemic demonization and dehumanization of these people in an attempt for a power grab?” he said. “In most cases, journalists are hard-working, overworked and underpaid and well-meaning members of their community. They only just want to put the facts on the page so people can make their own decisions. They’re not there to force decisions, they’re there to supply information and do so as artfully and directly as possible.”

McCarthy noted that other than season five of HBO’s “The Wire,” there hasn’t been a successful newspaper-set series since “Lou Grant” (1977-82).

“I’m putting my faith in the writers to tell these stories and … I think audiences are going to be drawn into [these characters’] lives,” he said, noting it’s particularly important to explore the value of local journalists at a time when newspapers are closing and some consumers turn to social media that can be rife with misinformation.

“We thought there was a real audience to reach, a broad American audience, that we could make a smart show that was both entertaining and had real value,” he said. “It’s a gamble. You never know what’s going to work, what’s going to connect. But we felt it was the right platform for the show, and we’re thrilled that ABC took a shot on us.”

While McCarthy will continue his involvement with “Alaska Daily,” Peter Elkoff (“The Resident”) is the showrunner.

“We’re trying to reach people who may or may not have lost their respect for journalists, and we’re trying to help them regain that and show them the humanity,” Elkoff said. “Good journalists are truth seekers, and everybody should care about the truth.”