Ambrose Spotlight Paper

By: Matt Ambrose

The movie Spotlight shines a bright light on award-winning journalism and how specific interview practices can unveil a shattering story. The movie depicts the Spotlight team at The Boston Globe, who over the course of a year uncovered numerous stories of child molestation within Catholic Churches in Boston. Through using stores sources of information, as well as personal observation and selecting the right sources to interview, the Spotlight team was able to create a Pulitzer Prize-winning story that published in early 2002.

Obviously, in this type of story, who the reporters speak to and where they speak is important in the process of gathering information. These reporters would go to the homes of the victims to conduct their interviews, in order to get them in a more comfortable environment. If the interview subjects are in a more comfortable setting, they are more willing to share the information that the reporters are looking for in order to put together the story. Along with having the victims as good sources, off the record sources can help reporters find the story as well. Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney for many of the victims in the case, led Michael Rezendes in the right direction to the 14 documents that the Spotlight team left a link to in the published article. Having all of these reliable sources was key in constructing a strong story.

Along with conducting these interviews in person, the reporters also need to be cognizant of their surroundings and what they see not just from the interview subject, but in the room as well. As Rezendes is interviewing one of the first victims of abuse by a priest as the Spotlight team begins reporting on the story, he notices marks on the right arm of the man he is interviewing. We do not see anything more about this during the film, but it shows Rezendes’ attention to detail, and shed some light on just how much of an impact these incidents have on the victims.

However, it’s not just the human sources that helped this story become what it was. The reporters used several stored sources of information in order to take more steps towards finding the true story. In their library, the Spotlight team found old church directories, which listed all of the priests in the Boston area along with which parishes they were assigned to. In these books, they noticed that many of the priests were listed as being on sick leave. They were able to match up many of the names of the priests to ones that they had accusations of child molestation against, which helped them start to piece together the puzzle that led them to the final story.

This film not only won Academy Awards and consisted of an enticing plot, but it also showed off the important practices that journalists and reporters should always use when reporting a story. Having good sources, using your observation skills, and using stored sources of information to find all the details necessary to report a good story are necessary for any journalist. This film put all three on display, and serve as a model for reporters to use throughout their careers.