The Paper Season 1 ending explained: Toledo Truth-Teller wins back its prestige

The Paper | Image Via: Universal Television
The Paper | Image Via: Universal Television

The Paper season 1 Toledo Truth-Teller, which had immense prestige, lost its charm as the days passed. However, things took a different turn when Ned Sampson was hired as the new editor-in-chief for the newspaper.

The website of Toledo Truth-Teller churned out clickbaity headlines under the influence of managing editor Esmeralda Grand. Hence, things were definitely not looking good for the newspaper company. However, after Ned’s arrival, the environment began to change.


Toledo Truth-Teller wins back its prestige in The Paper

The Office follow-up series, which revolves around a newspaper company, is headed by the relentlessly optimistic Ned Sampson, who wants a bright future for the company. He began to seek out proper news and look for ways that could actually bring improvement to the lost prestige of the newspaper.

The Paper | Image Via: Universal Television
The Paper | Image Via: Universal Television

He begins to revive the Toledo Truth-Teller right from the very start of the series. Though he often clashed with Esmeralda Grand, as her way of making things work was completely different, he did not lose hope. Esmaralda was far more interested in chasing views instead of actually writing credible content for the website. This further deteriorated the prestige of the newspaper.

The Paper is a masterclass depiction of the struggles that modern journalism often faces. Ned not only strived to bring out better news articles for the newspaper but also encouraged others to do so. The main intrigue of the first season is how the sewer clog news turned out. There was a clash of interest, as the CEO of Todle Truth-Teller was directly involved in the issue of clogging.

However, here also Ned finds a way to work things out and publish the news. Ned’s genuineness and authenticity began to rub off on his staff as well. Hence, in the end, his work, along with the works of others in the company, was nominated for the Ohio Journalism Awards.

Ned’s hard work in The Paper finally paid off as he was able to completely turn the wheels of Toledo Truth-Teller’s future with his input. In the end, we see that Toledo Truth-Teller wins the awards at the ceremony, cementing Ned’s input in bringing the company’s prestige back.

The Toledo Truth-Teller begins to publish news that actually matters through the hands of Ned Sampson at the end of The Paper. Besides bringing back the prestige that Toledo Truth-Teller had lost through the passing of time, Ned’s personal relationship also began to take a direction with Mare. However, here also things get complicated because of Esmeralda.

However, in the end, things definitely take a positive turn. Especially after Mare and Ned finally share a kiss. It would be truly interesting to see how the relationship between the two of them progresses in the second season of The Paper.

Toledo Truth-Teller’s future definitely seems to be on the right track now. The prestige that Ned and the others were able to bring back to the newspaper depicted their form of deduction. It came through a powerful act of telling the truth, one story at a time.

The Paper is available on Peacock, where you can binge all ten episodes of the first season.


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Edited by KOUSHIKI ROY