Journalism’s main purpose, generally, is to inform and educate the public about events and information concerning the many facets of society, and that includes information that some people would prefer the general public remain unaware of. If not for journalism and journalists, history and the current state of the world would be drastically and different, and not necessarily in good ways at all. Without Woodward and Bernstein, the Watergate Scandal would not be public knowledge, and the ethical safeguards put in place to prevent such a major abuse of power from reoccurring would not exist. If not for Edward Snowden or Daniel Ellsberg reaching out to the media, the public would live in ignorance of falsities, untruths, and morally unethical actions being perpetrated by the government. Without journalism, no one would know about these things, nor would they have the power to stop them. Because journalism is about reporting truth and facts, especially, in my opinion, unsavory facts, journalism has changed the course of history, and continues to change our outlook on current events, for the better.

Shattered Glass is a 2003 film concerning real-life journalist Stephen Glass. In the late 90’s, Glass was a journalist who, while working for The New Republic, was discovered to have, at least partially if not fully, fabricated most of his stories. The film stars Hayden Christensen and chronicles his downfall. Where Spotlight and All The President’s Men were concerned with institutional failures in very powerful organizations which were uncovered by journalists, Shattered Glass concerns itself with the institutional failings of journalists themselves. It is a well-made film and features a great script and good directing. However, I feel there was something lacking in the performances, especially Christensen, who I don’t think I have ever seen give a good performance. Though that is a problem, I did find the film enjoyable, even if it was the weakest of the four films I reviewed for this blog.

Citizenfour is a documentary film by Laura Poitras concerning her involvement with whistleblower Edward Snowden. Poitras is a well-established documentary filmmaker known for her criticism of the Iraq War and her social activism. Her reputation is assumed to be part of the reason Snowden reached out to her. Citizenfour chronicles Poitras’ investigation into Snowden’s claims and the subsequent fallout, and also features vignettes by former government officials like William Binney, who give background to the audience about the illegal electronic surveillance being conducted by the U.S. government. Citizenfour is an excellent and captivating documentary by an excellent filmmaker that perfectly explains and encapsulates what may be the biggest intelligence breach of my generation, and is an excellent film worth watching.

I have always been a talented writer, and I wanted to find a career to suit my talents. I always believed, and still believe, that journalism is that career. However, I do believe that traditional journalism is dying. To tell you the truth, I very rarely read print journalism, and when I do, it is normally because I am forced to for an assignment. This includes articles posted online. That is not to say I am willfully and woefully ignorant of world events, I just receive information from sources that are not traditional journalistic standards. There are automated systems that can take an online news article and summarize it for you. When you have a robot able to trim down an article (which are purposefully direct and not full of fluff in the first place), I feel as though there is no point for the article’s existence, in a sort of sense. We live in the world where people often end up knowing things before journalists do, with the exception of classified or privileged information. I think the essence of journalism must change, or else it will die. I do not believe it is dead, though, I believe it needs to evolve.

All the President’s Men is a film, based upon the book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, concerning the pair’s investigation into the Watergate Hotel and the subsequent political scandal that shocked the nation. Starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffmann, All The President’s Men is an excellent political conspiracy drama that not only respects the events that occurred, it is also supremely entertaining. Robert Redford is one of my favorite actors of the previous generation, and he is, as per usual, great in this film. It is also very well directed and shot, and the writing, much like Spotlight (which I consider to be somewhat of a spiritual successor to this 1976 film) is very on point and at no point clumsy. From both a technical standpoint as well as a thematic one, All The President’s Men is a masterclass political thriller/historical biopic that carries a well-deserved reputation as one of the best films in it’s genre. In film circles, the reputation of All The President’s Men is only slightly eclipsed by the real-life events it depicts, and for good reason. All The President’s Men is a supremely entertaining work on it’s own, but it also adds to the legacy of the Watergate Scandal, which, for what it’s worth, was interesting enough on it’s own as a juicy story and a journalistic triumph. I loved this film.

Spotlight tells the story of the titular investigative team of the Boston Globe and their investigation into allegations of child molestation by several priests and the subsequent attempts by the Catholic Church to hide this horrifying institutional failure. To attempt to aggregate and summarize my extensive review, I will say that Spotlight is an extremely impressive and competent film in almost every aspect. I especially was impressed that writer and director Tom McCarthy, as well as co-writer Josh Singer, were able to make everything in the film seem so realistic and in no way overdramatic or “cinematic.” Of course, this is a testament to the talent of brilliant actors like Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton. I, admittedly, have often had “crises of faith” when it comes to pursuing the field of journalism; Spotlight and the real-life events upon which it is based helped me regain perspective on the importance of journalism. That might sound overdramatic. I don’t mean to say that the film is life-altering, but I would never have been exposed to this story if it wasn’t such a well-made and engrossing film. Had I not seen the movie (because I love movies), I may have given up on journalism. Thankfully, I did not. Spotlight is a great film with masterful directing, writing, and acting, and is paced perfectly in order to keep the attention of the audience. I found it highly enjoyable and interesting.

Matt Smith published an article on RevealNews.org, from The Center For Investigative Reporting, on April 11th. In the article, Smith reveals that two federal investigations have been launched into a charitable organization that has operated under many names over many years, including Planet Aid and People to People. The goal of the organization is to, ostensibly, provide aid to impoverished nations. Smith revealed that the organization is a parent company run by an international fugitive named Mogens Amdi Petersen, who is accused of setting up fake charities to launder government grants from Denmark. He is suspected of doing the same in the United Kingdom, and now it seems U.S. officials have caught on to the organization’s misuse of funds.

Ann McAdams is an investigative reporter with WECT, a news outlet based in Wilmington, North Carolina. On Monday April 3rd, Ann and a WECT crew were investigating claims that the Social Security office had not yet placed a picture of President Donald Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence in the office, which is customary to do in federal buildings. WECT’s crew were prohibited from photographing the interior and exterior of the building by a security guard who claimed it was illegal to take photographs of a federal building. After analyzing the specific statute that had been cited, WECT found that they had every legal right to take photographs of both the inside and outside of the building. They consulted with a media law expert, who confirmed that this was indeed true. The team was, nevertheless, prohibited to take photographs by the office’s head of security, which is in violation of several explicit federal directives, and most likely the First Amendment to the Constitution. McAdams writes about this extensively in an article for WECT.

New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat wrote a column entitled Resist the Internet on March 11th. In this column, he advocated that people have a compulsion to be connected in the age of media, and compulsions are rarely harmless. “it is not likely to kill you (unless you’re hit by a distracted driver) or leave you ravaged and destitute,” Dan writes, but it requires such intense focus and time, it breeds narcissism, isolation, and alienation. Dan explains that the internet is harmful in excessive amounts, while also admitting that it can achieve remarkable things when used in moderation. He doesn’t believe we are; Dan believes that we are addicted, and that we need to step back and experience the internet in moderation, and that our current fixation with the online world is extremely harmful to us in the long run.

People’s Stephanie Petit and Maria Mercedes Lara reported earlier today that actor Bill Paxton has died at 61 due to surgical complications. Paxton was a prolific and experienced actor, known for starring in the financially and popularly successful disaster film Twister, the cult classic Western Tombstone, the iconic Apollo 13 biopic, as well as the Oscar-winning blockbuster romance film Titanic. Bill Paxton is also known for his minor, yet iconic roles in the science-fiction films Predator, Terminator, and Alien. Paxton received numerous award nominations for two acclaimed miniseries: HBO’s Big Love and Hatfields and McCoys. Paxton’s final film role will be The Circle, an upcoming psychological thriller starring former Apollo 13 costar Tom Hanks. Prior to his death, Paxton expressed his excitement at working with Hanks again. Celebrity friend Rob Lowe took to Twitter to express sincere condolences at the passing of his dear friend. Paxton is survived by his wife Louise and his two children, James and Lydia.