Spotlight, A Closer Look at Investigative Journalism

How far nowadays journalists would verify the data and analyzing the information before it get printed or aired? In this digital era of instant news, it is important to look back at the essence of journalism as stated in Nine Journalism Elements by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel.

Spotlight has resonation with the elements of journalism such independency, verification, and voicing the voiceless. The movie starts with the information that it is based on actual event, molestation scandal conduct by priest of Catholic Church in Boston in 1976.

The movie then fast forward to 2001 in the editorial office of The Boston Globe where there is special investigative journalist team called Spotlight. Spotlight has four members, the editor Walter Robinson (Michael Keaton), Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and Matt Carroll (Bryan d’Arcy James).  

The arrival of new editor Martin Baron suddenly makes Spotlight shifting the investigation to children molestation conducted by priests that long ago buried. At first it is just one priest, the Geoghan Case. But it doesn’t strong enough to create story that important to the public. Spotlight team digging the information, searching many clips and talking to the survivors of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPS), making the investigation come into allegedly 13 priests.

The number surges up to 90 priests in Boston alone when Richard Sipe, former priest and certified psychiatry give acknowledgement that the crisis is way bigger than that.

The Boston Archdiocese has been covering up this issue by just rotating problematic priests to other parishes. It also hire lawyers, conceal public documents regarding this case and settle negotiation discreetly with the victims.  Boston Globe then filing motion in court to lift the seal of the document so it can be accessed by the public.

Spotlight claimed that it has been published almost 600 stories about the scandal. There are 249 priests and brothers were publicly accused of sexual abuse within the Boston Archdiocese and left over 1.000 survivors.

For this hard work, Spotlight won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Public Service. It considers as distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper through the use of its journalistic resources. The movie itself whipped two Oscars in Best Picture and Best Screenplay categories at the 2016 Academy Awards.

Aside from the sensitive issue of religious public figures, Spotlight exposed how the big story takes time to be written and demands persistence from the journalists. The media should be independent just like when Cardinal Law offers Baron to cooperate instead of being replied that Boston Globe really needs to stand alone to perform its function.

This story should be seen that it discovers the misbehavior of not just priests but also other religious. It should alert not just certain religion but members of other religious groups to the potential sexual dangers posed by adult in positions of power over children.