State College might not seem exotic or exciting enough for someone like Aaron Matthews.

Born in Venezuela and raised in Brooklyn, the filmmaker has directed documentaries about the oldest barber in Brooklyn (Taddo), professional improvisers (The Art of the Moment), a Dominican immigrant family (My American Girls) and an exiled Black Panther (A Panther in Africa), which have all been aired on public television on either local or national levels.

However, Matthews was able to find inspiration for his latest film, The Paper, in the seemingly sleepier locale of State College.

"There is this connecting thread in all my films that deals with community, and what community means," Matthews said. "But for the most part, the way I choose my films, it's similar to what [documentary director] D.A. Pennebaker said: 'When you choose your film topics, never search, never turn away.' I heard that a couple years ago, and I went, 'That's what I've done.' Basically, I've done films that were pretty organic."

Matthews knew the Ortizes, the family in My American Girls, when he lived in Brooklyn. He met the subject of A Panther in Africawhile traveling. Matthews moved to State College four years ago when his wife, a history professor, got a job here, and his next film was local.

"When the opportunity has come up, I haven't turned away," Matthews said. "I always thought that was kind of a cool way to think about how I come by projects."

He wanted to do a documentary about the American media and read an article about a journalist returning to a high school newspaper. With the inspiration to focus on student journalism, he decided to film at The Daily Collegian for the project.

Matthews said the film originated when, "I felt like I wasn't as informed as I should be. I was kind of frustrated about that, not finding news about issues that mattered to me in accessible, mainstream news."

This trend has not been consistent everywhere Matthews has traveled. Matthews traveled to his birthplace of Venezuela this past summer, and noted a difference in attitude.

"What was kind of interesting was people who were so energized by politics. People were really pro-Chavez or anti-Chavez," Matthews said. "Here, people never get into political discussions the first time you meet them, but there it was really their sport in a kind of way."

Here, Matthews said he was dissatisfied with the operations of the American media system.

"This happened really post-9/11," Matthews said. "The journalism industry was coming under fire for not covering issues people felt they should have covered. Not really asking pertinent questions about, for example, WMDs, the legitimacy of going to Iraq."

Matthews said he began to think, "I also have a lot of questions," and he noticed that many problems reporters have, including a lack of access to sources, lack of diversity in the newsroom, dropping circulation, were happening at the Collegian.

"There were all these things that were big media things, but they were all happening in this microcosm of the student newspaper," he said.

There has been no major change in media practices in the years since the filming of The Paper, Matthews said, noting a growing trend of more Americans getting news from television than newspapers.

"When I turn on TV news, I really hate a lot of crap, to be honest," Matthews said. "I don't feel that that should be the job of our news media, spending 48 hours on Anna Nicole Smith or Alec Baldwin celebrity rantings ... why should they be dealing so extensively with stuff of very little relevance?"

Instead, Matthews said, the news media's responsibility is to inform citizens.

In further discussion on celebrity gossip stories, and given the example of Paris Hilton coverage during her return to jail, Matthews said: "They create stories about their own coverage then, which is like this hall of mirrors about sheer drivel."

But Matthews said he does not consider himself a journalist.

"That's one of the things I had to think about when doing this film. I guess we're relatives, you know what I mean?" Matthews said.

Matthews noted the great differences in deadlines -- he might take two or three years on a project -- as one major difference.

"I think that the kind of truth you get with a film, where you've spent longitudinal time with people over a long period of time, is just a different kind of a truth you get than when you show up at a house fire, get three quotes, then go back and write your story," Matthews said.

"I see it as one of my main missions to tell a story, to tell a compelling story and to tell an entertaining one."