Spotlight: Showcasing the power of journalism

UNITED STATES
The Nation

December 29, 2015

In 2003, the Globe Spotlight team, an investigative unit of Boston Globe won the journalism’s most distinguished prize – the Pulitzer Prize for its fearless and wide-ranging coverage of child abuse and molestation by Catholic priests and the systemic cover-up by Church. The series of investigative reporting of horrific crime penetrated clandestineness and silence behind the criminality, stimulated regional and global reaction and created an atmosphere for massive changes within the Church by telling the truth.

The seasoned director, writer and actor Tom McCarthy’s new directorial work Spotlight follows the true story of Boston Globe’s investigative journalistic team’s audacious reportage of gigantic sexual scandal, shielded by Catholic Church during a three–decade spree. The powerful journalistic docudrama concentrates on the approach of who done it, exposing the huge scale machination, probing the elements of power and sovereignty, exploitation and secrecy. Not only that, it also explores psychology of victimhood – the emotional trauma and desolation victims had to endure throughout their life.

It all begins in 2001 when new editor-in-chief Marty Baron, played by Liev Schreiber, recruits the Spotlight crew to look into allegations of child abuse by one local pedophile priest. The Spotlight squad – Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) and Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) led by editor Walter Robinson (Michael Keaton) – started probing the issue deeply, soon it becomes evident that disturbing scandal and settlements are actually happening within Catholic Church.

As their investigation progresses from one to few and finally to dozens of egregious cases of molestation and immorality, the courageous reporters struggled to follow the root-cause of out of court settlements, involvement of lawyers and massive corruption plague in the system, as editor Robinson declares:

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