Emily Mortimer Says There's No Agenda Behind "The Newsroom" Aaron Sorkin's new HBO series, "The Newsroom," has received a lot of Internet praise and criticism since its Sunday premiere. Some have said that "The Newsroom" revises recent history with a liberal slant, but star Emily Mortimer, who plays veteran news producer Mackenzie MacHale, defended the show as a fictional drama. She told ABC News Radio, "Those moments like the BP oil spill, like the Gabby Giffords shooting, like the Arab Spring, all these things, they were images on our television that at the time were very dramatic images that we didn't necessarily have time to think about and contextualize and ponder over, and there's something very cool about being given the opportunity to do that." Mortimer said she hasn't heard if HBO will renew the show for a second season but said, "I'm keeping my fingers crossed and I'm hoping it's going to be good news and we'll know very soon."