ILLINOIS
Herald & Review
Mar 13, 2016
Newspaper people have a special fondness for movies about newspapers, especially when journalists are depicted as heroes.
So, it’s not a big surprise that several Herald & Review staffers enjoyed a special showing of the Academy Award winning move “Spotlight” at the Avon Theater a week ago.
The movie, which won for Best Picture and Best Screenplay, hasn’t been seen widely. It didn’t show in Decatur and has seen a limited run in other theaters in Central Illinois. Although it’s an extremely well-made movie, it doesn’t have the explosions and special effects that are popular in movies these days.
But it’s a movie worth seeing, now that it’s available on DVD and by other methods. It depicts the Boston Globe’s investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese and the cover up and transfers of priests that sexually abused young children.
What’s impressive about the movie is that it honors the reporting process in a compelling way. Much of what journalists do during the day isn’t especially exciting. There is a lot of time spent in meetings, reading documents and talking to sources that either won’t share their stories or don’t have accurate information. “Spotlight” depicts that process accurately. It also deals with how journalists sometimes fail. In this case, the Globe had been warned about the number of priests involved in sexual abuse years earlier, but had ignored the story.
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