The Power of “Spotlight” on the Truth

The movie Spotlight tells the story of the “Spotlight” team at The Boston Globe. This team starts with a small case of a Catholic priest sexually assaulting children in the parish and gradually uncovers the crimes of nearly a hundred priests. During their investigation, they encounter many obstructions from various forces, including the church and the lawyers. Despite many hardships, they finally succeed in reporting the truth to the public. After watching this movie, I couldn’t calm down for a long time. My heart seemed to be pulled by it.

The lines impressed me deeply, “Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we spend most of our time stumbling around in the dark. Suddenly a light gets turned on, and there’s a share of blame to go around.” Mark, a journalist, said. This is his reflection on the fact in 1993, a lawyer had already sent a list of 20 involved priests and accusations of their crimes to The Boston Globe. However, the newspaper office didn’t conduct an in-depth investigation and only treated it as an ordinary briefing at that time. The file was even put into the “Priest Sexual Abuse” folder and forgotten. In Spotlight, there is also a scene where reporter Marty said sarcastically, “And they’re right across the street.” Combining with the movie scenes, we know he is referring to the Catholic Archdiocese  just across the street from The Boston Globe, yet these long-standing crimes have been covered up all the time. In my opinion, this is not only a warning to The Boston Globe but also to the entire journalism industry. I think the truth should not be buried by power. And we should be more sensitive to every report, not remain silent, and speak out. This is the responsibility of journalism.

In addition, the movie shows some scenes of their interviews with the victims. I remember they repeatedly told the victim before interviewing, “If you feel uncomfortable, you can refuse to answer and terminate the interview immediately. ” And when the victims asked whether his real name would be used, they replied, “We won’t if you don’t want us to.” Also, when the female journalist interviewed Phil, she first asked if he minded the recording, comforted him when he was nervous, and told him the importance of words in revealing the truth. All these demonstrate the principle of minimizing harm in journalism ethics. While uncovering the truth, the teams silently protect those who were once victims and speak up for them.

When considering the news value of these reports, I think they have a strong impact on public. From the movie, there are nearly a hundred priests who have been sexually assaulting and harassing nearly a thousand children for a long time in Boston. The potential impacts on the victims, the Catholic Church, public trust, and children’s safety are huge. Moreover, the conflicts here are multiple. There are not only direct conflicts between the priests and the victims but also conflicts between the reporters and the Catholic Church, lawyers, and even between the newspaper’s internal leadership and the team members, as well as the conflict between the newspaper’s current act and past. All these verify the value of these news reports. At the end of the movie ,when the printing machine keeps running and the “Spotlight” team’s office keeps receiving calls, I can better understand the significance of reports.

“Listen to me. I am here because I care. We’re not going away. We’re gonna tell this story, we’re gonna tell it right.” A female journalist said. This is my favorite line. These words strongly express the voices and sense of responsibility of many journalists. It also seems to be proclaiming that no matter when, we will firmly stand by the truth and on the side of justice, defending the interests of journalism and the public.