UNITED STATES
Lincoln Journal Star
by L. Kent Wolgamott | Lincoln Journal Star
The Reel Story: This accurate, involving drama that tells the story of the Boston Globe’s investigation of the Catholic Church sexual abuse cover-up is one of best journalism movies ever and one of the top films of 2015.
In 2001, a new editor arrived at the Boston Globe from the Miami Herald. A newcomer, Marty Baron notices a column about a local priest accused of having sexually abused dozens of young parishioners over three decades.
Ignoring resistance from veteran staffers and those outside the newsroom who said taking on the Catholic Church in overwhelmingly Catholic Boston would be dangerous and destructive, Baron instructs the paper’s Spotlight team to follow up on the column — and not just to seek out individual cases of abuse but to unearth the system that allowed the abuse to continue.
Two years later, the Spotlight team won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism for its reporting of the Church’s cover-up of pedophilia perpetrated by more than 70 priests.
“Spotlight” tells the story of the reporting team and its investigation with accuracy, great detail and an understanding of the journalists and their world. The drama is a compelling detective story, even though the final outcome of the investigation is known.
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