The Paper

Henry Hackett is the Sun's metro editor who loves his job but is worn down by long hours and low pay. Bernie White reveals he has prostate cancer and is trying to track down his estranged daughter to reconcile before his time runs out.

Facing dire financial straits, the paper's owner has Alicia Clark impose unpopular cutbacks across the newsroom. Henry clashes with Alicia as he worries about layoffs and the future of the paper and his staff.

Martha, Henry's pregnant wife and fellow Sun journalist, fears he won't be around to help raise their child. She urges him to take an editor position at the prestigious New York Sentinel, promising more money, respect, and fewer hours.

A hot crime story erupts with the murder of two white businessmen in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Two African-American teenagers are arrested, but Henry and columnist Michael McDougal grow skeptical after hearing cops criticizing the arrest on the newsroom scanner.

Henry becomes obsessed with the case, pushing his staff to dig deeper. He cannot resist stealing information about the case while in the Sentinel newsroom interviewing for the job, jeopardizing his chances there.

A source tells Martha that the murdered businessmen were bankers who stole money from a reputed New York mobster, reinforcing Henry's belief that the Brooklyn youths were wrongly arrested. The detail deepens his resolve to expose the truth.

With time running out, Henry pushes to extend the deadline to get more time to nail the story. Alicia refuses, citing overtime costs for the press workers and delivery truck drivers, jeopardizing the Sun's ability to publish the truth.

Henry and McDougal recruit a police detective who confirms the suspects are innocent and merely happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The investigative breakthrough strengthens their case but comes too late for the planned front page.

Henry confronts Alicia about stopping the presses and publishing a correct story. A tense fistfight erupts, and Alicia ultimately fires Henry from the Sun.

After a drink with McDougal, Alicia contemplates changing course and doing the right thing. Before she can reach the press room on a pay phone, a stray bullet from a drunk city official hits her leg at the bar.

Henry arrives home just as Martha is rushed to the hospital for an emergency cesarean section. In the hospital, Alicia insists on calling the Sun to change the front page before doctors treat her.

The next morning, Alicia lies in her hospital bed reading the Sun with the headline 'They Didn't Do It!' Henry visits the newborn son in the nursery, then goes to Martha's room. A bedside news anchor reports that the youths have been released thanks to the Sun's exclusive scoop.