![]() In addition, I have a unique connection to this movie: Marty Baron (powerfully portrayed by Liev Schreiber), who set the investigation in motion on his first day as the Globe’s top editor and oversaw it with steely determination, is a friend and former colleague. It portrayed the reporters and editors as heroic, though fallible, and reflected the essential role of principled sources and courageous victims to bring vital, if excruciatingly painful, truths to light. Moreover, it brought attention to journalism’s watchdog role - holding the powerful accountable - and the importance of a local newspaper to its community at a time when journalism was increasingly under fire and many local publications were failing. ![]() This gave me a particular appreciation for the lengths to which the filmmakers went to get it so right - and how they were able to make such an engrossing and entertaining movie in the process. I spent most of my 29 years as a newspaper reporter doing the kind of dogged, challenging and impactful investigative work that Spotlight captures with such painstaking authenticity. ![]() More than five years after its release, it continues to resonate with me for deeply personal reasons. The movie - whose title comes from the name of The Boston Globe’s investigative team - depicts how reporters and editors at the paper uncovered decades of sexual abuse by local Roman Catholic priests and the Boston Archdiocese’s role in covering it up. The upcoming Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday offers an opportune moment to reflect on my favorite film about journalism: Spotlight, which won the best picture Oscar in 2016. Photo Credit: Spotlight, Participant Media/Open Road Films, 2015 ![]() This column is a periodic series of personal reflections on journalism, news literacy, education and related topics by NLP’s founder and CEO, Alan C. ![]()
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