Ah, newspaper cinema. Some "news" films are noirish. Some are dramas Others are comedies or dramas or semi-documentaries. And then there's Citizen Kane.

Check out The Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture, a new site devoted to -- well, just what it says. IJPC is a project of the Norman Lear Center, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California. The director is Joe Saltzman, an associated professor of journalism and associate dean. An impressive site that is long overdue.

Two other sites are valuable guides to journalism films. One is by Paul Schindler; the other is maintained by the Detroit Free Press.

So read on. Just don't tear out the front page.

"The Big Clock"

This is a fun little film noir.

Takes place at a crime magazine, where Ray Milland, pictured here, is the ace reporter.

There's a murder, and all signs point to old Ray. Elsa Lanchester does a good bit as a ditzy artist. He spends the best part of the movie trying to leave work.

If you've seen "No Way Out" with Kevin Costner, it's kinda the same deal, an updated remake. Based on the novel by Kenneth Fearing.

Go there.

 You see what it's all about in this photo.

That's J.J. Hunsecker on the right. A famous gossip columnist. A manipulating bastard.That's Sidney Falco on the left. Slimy publicity agent. Needs a mention in Hunsecker's column to make a living. It's a sleazy, symbiotic relationship that thrives in the wonderful cesspool of jazz-era New York.

Go there.

Yeah, Monica Lewinsky stayed in the Watergate, but she missed the excitement by 15 years.

Forget cigars.

Forget stained dresses.This one's got Deep Throat and the future of the Free World. The late Jason Robards Jr. grabs the Oscar for his portrayal of Ben Bradlee.

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Micheal Keaton is the metro editor of a certain New York tabloid. Glenn Close is the bitchy boss.The story concerns these kids who are wrongly convicted, but the best thing about this film is its pace -- a caffiene-fueled rush that covers 24 hours of Gotham City journalism.

Go there.

Bogie runs a dying paper, and he's dragging a gangster down with him. Jim Backus does spot duty as a reporter.

And look for the bar scene . ..

It's the one where the scribes cry in their beer about the Death of Journalism as they know it. Kim Hunter is no ape in this one.

Go there.

Howard Hawks directed this flick in 1940, six years before " The Big Sleep." A great study in ad-libbed dialogue between Cary Grant and Rosaline Russell.

Ralph Bellamy plays some yegg. Watch out for the blonde.

Go there.

WW2 is getting ready to break out all over, and Joel McCrea is the cop reporter sent to cover it. George Sanders is the ultimate cool Brit.

Albert Wasserman gets an Oscar nomination for his wide-eyed portrayal of a diplomat strung out on dope.

Some guy named Hitchcock directed.

Go there.