Page One: Inside the New York Times looks at the challenges faced by a media institution with a proud history, and asks what the world of journalism would look like without it. It’s a familiar story in this day and age: newspapers are dead, journalism will never be the same, and the end of the world as we know it is possibly nearing closer. Yet if there’s one message that stands out after watching this documentary, it is this: it isn’t over yet.

The film demonstrates how the paper works and why this is changing by following day-to-day meetings and the development of several major stories, including some broken by WikiLeaks. The focus is on the paper’s recently added media section, which reports on developments in the industry. Though the camera rarely strays from the reasonably drab office space or niche industry conferences, somehow it still manages to capture a decent amount of the excitement and prestige that surrounds the New York Times.

Engaging characters you want to know more about are the film’s strength. In particular, media reporter David Carr and young gun Brian Stelter. Carr’s brash nature and intense life story probably make him so appealing because they live up to the old newspaper journalist stereotype — an ex-addict who has seen it all and makes no apologies for what he does. Stelter, who got his start through blogging and is always on Twitter, is the opposite — the epitome of what new media has to offer. Both of these journalists give viewers what they’ve been promised: an inside look at the characters and processes of newspaper reporting’s holy grail.

The first fifteen minutes or so are rather dry, rehashing the current state of the industry, the apparently long gone heyday of the Times, and the recent rise of WikiLeaks. If you’ve already been following this story, the documentary doesn’t offer much that is new until the latter half, where you get to know the journalists and the focus is more clearly on the inner workings of the Times itself and its future prospects. Some time is spent exploring the controversy surrounding the paper’s coverage of the invasion of Iraq, demonstrating that no paper is perfect. However, the film ends on a positive note, successfully proving that the Times is far from irrelevant.

Page One might not appeal to a wide audience though. It doesn’t have the glamour of The September Issue, perhaps because it lacks an Anna Wintour. It is also a bit repetitive at times. Essentially, it’s just a movie about some guys in an office on their computers. So if the idea of the New York Times itself doesn’t excite you, then this movie probably won’t either.