UNITED STATES
The Guardian
Alicia Shepard
Most people don’t know a journalist. They only know journalists are rated at the bottom of trust polls along with used car salesmen. They only hear presidential candidates trashing reporters daily from the stump.
Spotlight, which just won the Oscar for best picture, allows viewers to peek behind the byline, authentically portraying the tediousness of strong investigative reporting, the fierce determination of reporters, the bravery of top editors and how persistence can bring about real change – as long as management has your back.
That’s why it’s a great thing for journalism that Spotlight won the Oscar for best picture. Highlighting the Boston Globe’s 2002 expose of the Catholic Church’s systemic cover up of priest molestation, Spotlight is this generation’s version of the 1976 movie All the President’s Men.
The win should do wonders for the news business, the public’s understanding of journalism and those of us who believe passionately in journalism’s mission to ultimately inform and do good.
“Mom, I feel like I finally get what you and Dad do now that I’ve seen Spotlight,” said my son, the offspring of two journalists. I’m not alone. Globe Spotlight reporter Sacha Pfeiffer told CNN, “Family members have said to some of us, ‘Oh, now I understand what you do.’”
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