Aaron Sorkin defended his controversial new show The Newsroom at this year's Television Critics Association press tour while denying claims that he fired his writing staff, Reuters reports.

"The writing staff was not fired," Sorkin said at the press event for the show. "Seeing that in print has scared the hell out of the writers. They are coming to work early and being polite to me. I love the writing staff. I think they are a fantastic group."

The show itself has also caused a stir among critics and viewers, with some criticizing its idealistic depiction of what TV news could be.

"I have only ever tried to write the way I write," said Sorkin. "I haven't tried to figure out what most people will like, and then give it to them. I try to write what I like, and what I think my friends will like, and then I keep my fingers crossed that enough other people will like it that I can keep doing it."

With episodes focusing around actual news events, including the BP oil spill and the shooting of U.S. representative Gabby Giffords, Newsroom has also drawn criticism from reporters and journalists who believe they're being called out for errors made while news was breaking.

"I didn't want to make up fake news. I didn't feel we would be able to relate to fake news," Sorkin said. He also noted, "I didn't do it so I could leverage hindsight, so I could make our characters smarter."

Sorkin added that the next episode will revolve around U.S. forces capturing and killing Osama bin Laden last year. HBO has already renewed The Newsroom for a second season. 

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