I feel like I’m playing catch up on a lot of things from learning about the nutritional components of kale to the benefits of a Himalayan rock salt lamp. Movies aren’t any different, but I can’t complain much about that. I enjoy the process of making a movie selection more than attending the showing of a new blockbuster. Last week, a professor of mine decided to do that for me and showed the class the 2015 movie, Spotlight. I had never seen it before, and I’m glad I caught up to this film.
The movie is set in 2001, and the journey begins when the new editor of the Boston Globe, Martin Baron, assigns a team of investigative journalists with the task of following up on a story about a Catholic priest who was accused of molesting 80 children. The journalist team called Spotlight is composed of the editor/team player Walter “Robby” Robinson, and reporters Michael Rezendes, Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer. During interviews with victims and lawyers, they discover that there are court ordered sealed documents that can reveal the very real possibility of a systemic cover-up of sexual abuse within the Boston Archdioceses. A year after starting the investigation, Spotlight confirms at least 250 members of the clergy had been publicly accused of child sex abuse within Boston and that Cardinal Law had prior knowledge of the priests’ abuse of children. The story’s publication touches off a wave of sexual abuse allegations and revelations around the world exposing the organized criminal activity within the Roman Catholic Church to cover the filth on the cloth.
There are many great lessons to learn from this film like human’s ability to rationalize the truth, but I want to focus on the journalism ones.
When the Spotlight team decided to take on a story, they exemplified the standards of quality journalism: verification and documentation, teamwork, context and fairness.
Verification and Documentary
While prospecting the story the journalists go through the newspapers clips to see previous coverage and visit the court house for public information about cases. The team talks to lawyers representing alleged victims and request to speak with their clients and begin to interview the few victims whose names were public. Wanting to know what happened to the priests who were accused pedophiles, they go through church directories that trace the clergymen’s career path. While collecting this information, it’s submitted into a spreadsheet and the data suggests a horrifying pattern: church leaders relocated the clergymen from parish to parish instead of defrocking them and therefore allowing the continuation of child sex abuse by the perpetrators.
Teamwork
Baron knew doing a story that would investigate the Catholic Church would be stepping on a lot of people’s toes and considered how his new staff may also not want to take on the assignment, so he stepped up to the plate. Once Spotlight agreed to go forward and do the story, Baron meets with Cardinal Law and obtains approval from the Boston Globe’s publisher to file an appeal in the state’s court to unseal the sensitive documents. Though he was new and a complete outsider, he planted his flag alongside Spotlight and solidified his support.
Context
Everyday newsrooms decide on how they want to frame a story. When it comes to a story so big that can have an impact, you wonder how to deliver it. Baron describes three different ways the story that they have been working on can be delivered and weighs in his two cents: he wants to go after the Roman Catholic Church as an “institution” rather than focus on the priest that initiated the probe or the number of accused/alleged abusive priests. In this case, the Boston Globe will not be increasing awareness. They will expose it, try to stop it, and hope to bring change.
While I was watching the film, I found myself shocked by the push back of some characters that supported the Church despite it’s wrongdoings. For some reason, since the church did so much good then it deserved a Saint’s/King’s Pass when it came to harming the very beholders of heaven (See Matthew 19:14). Then I found myself wondering: When does journalism stop being a public service? I think the Boston Globe did excellent work exposing the clergy scandal, but I can see how devoted Catholics would wonder: What’s good vs What’s right. As a journalism student I wondered: How can I ask these victims to relive their trauma time after time just to make sure I got the facts right? When do I stop pressuring, digging? Is specificity from the victims necessary?
If you haven’t seen it, watch it. Whenever you do though, watch Truth which also came out in 2015. Tell me what you think after watching both!
Un Café. Better Make That Two. 