These days, the existential challenges faced by newspapers across the country sound more like a Shakespearean tragedy than a comedy.
Stories written by AI. Declining traffic. Algorithms fueling the decline. Newspapers closing. Misinformation and disinformation competing with news from actual journalists.
No wonder reporters and editors are some of the biggest fans of “The Paper,” the Peacock sitcom that is returning with all 10 episodes of its second season on Sept. 9.
The show focuses on the fictional Toledo Truth Teller, an understaffed, more-than-slightly amateurish, failing publication that shares its office space with the Softees toilet paper company owned by its parent corporation. The episodes take their situations to hilarious extremes,
but they also touch on what make reporters and editors love their work, from the thrill of tracking down a tip to the sense of being an important watchdog for the community at large.
The staffers of the Truth Teller start the second season pumped with enthusiasm after their winning night at an Ohio journalism awards ceremony. So what do they have that journalists from much larger, better-known publications need right now?
Optimism, says the star of “The Paper,” Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson ("Brooklyn," General Hux in the recent "Star Wars" movies). He plays the earnest, still very green and idealistic editor-in-chief Ned Sampson.
Optimism is “what makes them good at what they do,” says Gleeson during a Zoom press conference for the new season. Sounding acutely aware of the stressful real-world media landscape, he adds that “reality hasn’t beaten … the optimism out of them yet, I think, which is a good thing.”
When it premiered, “The Paper” was hailed as one of the best — and probably most unsung — new shows of 2025. A combination of loving elegy and goofy tribute for the print media, it was co-created by executive producers Greg Daniels (“The Office") and Michael Koman (“Nathan for You”).
The show’s premise is tied directly to classic sitcom “The Office,” which ran on NBC from 2005 to 2013. Supposedly, the documentary crew that followed Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch has moved on to its next project, chronicling a Midwestern newspaper's struggle to survive. To emphasize that point, Oscar Nunez, who played accountant Oscar Martinez on “The Office,” portrays the same character here, now relocated to Toledo.
Season 2 picks up after the Truth Teller’s triumph at the Ohio Journalism Awards. Everyone is feeling good about their work. Ned Sampson, whose naïve dedication is starting to turn the paper around, is feeling happy both at work and in love, thanks to his budding romance with reporter Mare (Chelsea Frei).
As the first episode begins, the exultant staffers arrive at work only to find out the office in mourning over the death of a beloved Softees salesman, whose problematic personal life will make the writing of the obit a nightmare of an assignment.
The rest of the season will feature story lines like Ned’s hunt for a new journalistic crusade, desperately devious managing editor Esmeralda’s (Sabrina Impacciatore, so memorable in the Italy season of “The White Lotus") struggle to figure how her role at the changing Truth Teller, and the staff’s efforts to get the latest scoops, even if it means storm-chasing with no obvious skills.
The humor flows from the quirky employees (are there any other kind in print?), many of whom have been recruited by Ned to serve as volunteer reporters. In addition to the ones played by Gleeson, Frei, Impacciatore and Nunez, they include Melvin Gregg as the likable Detrick, Gbemisola Ikumelo as no-nonsense Adelola, Alex Edelman as somewhat clueless Adam, Nicole Lee as guarded Ramona, Tim Key as profits-first Ken, Eric Rahill as blue-collar Travis and Duane Shepard Sr. as oblivious old-timer Barry.
Also holding down a key role is veteran comedian Allan Havey as corporate president Marv, who is essentially decent and supports Ned up to a point.
At the virtual press conference with Gleeson and showrunners Daniels and Koman, the lovefest between ink-stained wretches and “The Paper” becomes evident as one attendee thanks them for providing “a much less expensive” and hilarious sort of therapy for print journalists.
Describing the feedback from large and small news outlets as “absolutely amazing,” Gleeson says that “people seem really thrilled that there’s something that takes what they do seriously, that understands that it matters, but that’s also, you know, an easy-to-watch thing. You know, like, I think we don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we understand that journalism is a very serious thing.”
Reflecting on the optimism of the Truth Teller’s newbie journalists, Daniels, who has a daughter involved in high school journalism and is a former high school and college journalist himself, says: “I imagine that a lot of journalists working today had the same kind of excitement when they were starting out. And, you know, hopefully the show can kind of reconnect today’s journalists with the … urge that they had to get into things, which is probably being slowly beaten out of them all by … economic conditions.”
Adding to those sentiments, Gleeson notes that “it feels like the reality of working in journalism, there’s just … a constant assault on journalism from every angle at the moment.”
The new season will feature a story line involving the fictitious Cincinnati Times, which was filmed in the offices of the Los Angeles Times. Given that Cincy is about a three-hour drive from Toledo, while the Motor City is closer to an hour, would "The Paper" ever consider using a Detroit newspaper in a story line?
“Maybe season three, maybe we’ll go over there,” says Daniels. “That would be good. That’d be fun.”
Gleeson says he took some cues for portraying Ned from the journalists he has met from the Toledo Blade and a few other newspapers who are "just young people who really cared about it and were working super, super-hard in journalism. Like, that’s what I loved about it. I think the show provides the humor. All (the journalists) I found were just amazing … like, just positivity and commitment and hard work.”
Talking about possible surprises in store for Ned this season, Gleeson hints intriguingly that “he finishes the (first) season basically getting everything he always wanted, including some things he didn’t even know he wanted. … All of his dreams come true at the same time, and that’s not always good for a person."
Although "The Paper" is filmed in Los Angeles, Gleeson Daniels and Koman have much affection for Toledo and already are musing about aspects of the city they hope to work into season three, including the Toledo Mud Hens, the Triple-A baseball team of the Detroit Tigers.
Says Koman, “Well, we talk so much about the Mud Hens in the writers’ room and I feel like … we have not gotten to spend enough time actually there, like, either in the stadium or incorporate that in fully."
Adds Gleeson, “They had a Bring Your Dog for Free Day, I think, when I went to the Mud Hens (game ). … So there were, like, so many dogs at the baseball game, which just seems the craziest mix of things you don’t want. Like, dogs are trained to run after balls that are thrown."
Sometimes, potential scenes for "The Paper" just write themselves.
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.
'The Paper'
Season 2 arrives Wednesday, Sept. 9, with 10 episodes on Peacock.
Rated TV-14
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'The Paper,' a quirky, bittersweet tribute to newspapers, is back
