Author Archives: dsanrom2@illinois.edu

Journalism: The Map to a Better Tomorrow

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After reading the final chapter to Rodger Streitmatter’s Mightier Than the Sword, an aspiring journalist cannot help but feel a little awed by the power and impact of the fourth estate. Journalism has the ability to present the public with the image of a different future. A future that corrects the mistakes of the present and builds a better tomorrow.

This future is based on the opinions and beliefs held by the journalist that writes about it; however, the power to enact that future resides in the public. If the present situation appears to be misogynistic, pessimistic and xenophobic, journalists can reveal that nature. It is then up to the rest of the world to change it.

This power to present beliefs and opinions can be as far-reaching and political as Ida Tarbell revealing the darker side of John D. Rockefeller or as personal as Roger Ebert making everyone believe movies can be art.

Not everyone will change the world, but everyone believes there are ways the world can change. Journalism gives people a platform and a voice to express those changes. History shows us that, when a voice is heard, a journalist can change the world.

All the President’s Men Review

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Films about journalism are few and far between. The reason being trying to make journalism cinematically interesting is rather difficult. Audience’s don’t tend to find typing at a typewriter, making phone calls, and fact-checking to be very visually arresting.

All the President’s Men (Pakula 1976) rejected those notions and made a landmark film that truly showcased the lives of investigative reporters, and in doing so paved the way for every film about journalism since.

The film follows two unknown reporters, Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford), as they attempt to uncover the real scandal that unfolded at the Watergate hotel.

Throughout the two hour and eighteen minute film, Woodward and Bernstein do nothing more than talk. They talk on the phone, they talk to their editors, they talk to an unknown source in a parking garage, and they talk to each other. A lot.

All this conversation would have been tedious had the screenwriters not been such an airtight script, but the script in question unfolds like a mystery novel. Every conversation is full of small details that the audience can piece together to form their own conclusion. Every character has new information that allows the audience to solve the puzzle.

Pakula chooses to focus on these moments of the journalistic field. The discovery, the intrigue and the search for the truth are the backbone of All the President’s Men. Hoffman and Redford live their characters as they begin to get more involved in the case. While no real action takes place, the tension underneath simmers the entire time, making the film feel dense with action.

All the President’s Men displays the true glory of investigative journalism. It stands as the gold standard of journalism films, and every film about journalism since has to stand next to it.

4/4

Spotlight Review

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When faced with something truly horrific, most people do not yell, or scream or rant. Most people will internalize that pain and carry it with them as they go day to day.

Spotlight (McCarthy 2015) takes this notion of pain and showcases the actions the men and women of the Boston Globe took when faced with an atrocity, and contests All the President’s Men (Pakula 1976) as the defining film on Journalism.

The film follows a subsection of the Boston Globe newspaper, known as the spotlight division. This division would do in-depth investigative reporting to uncover overlooked news. In this specific instance, the Boston Glove uncovered the systematic covering up of the abuses of children within the Catholic Church.

With as powerful a subject as that, Spotlight could have been a dramatic retelling of the events meant to wet tissues and win awards, but McCarthy forgoes convention. Unlike similar films that follow tragic stories, the power of Spotlight lies in its subtlety.

Other than an explosive rant done by Mark Ruffalo, there are no powerful monologues or climactic moments. There isn’t a time during this movie when you will want to cry, other than out of disgust. No, Spotlight presents itself as a true-to-life story of the discovery of the Catholic Church Scandal and lets that fact sink in without a flourish or a care.

The film doesn’t disrespect the subject by adding unnecessary subplots or drama. The film allows what actually happened to speak for itself. This is then further emphasized by the amazing ensemble cast, of which to highlight any single performance would be disingenuous to the rest.

Spotlight tries, and succeeds, to show how real journalism is done on a serious subject. Hopefully, it will leave an impact.

4/4

 

Shattered Glass Review

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How far would you be willing to go to cover up a lie? At what point do you look at the circumstances you are in and say, “maybe this isn’t a good idea?” To Stephen Glass, there was never any circumstance where his name was less valuable than the truth, and he was willing to fight tooth and nail to make sure that his lies were never discovered.

Shattered Glass (Ray 2003) is one of those films that makes the audience beg for any semblance of logic or reason during its runtime, and the movie gives you nothing.

Anchored by Hayden Christensen, of Attack of the Clones fame, Shattered Glass follows the story of Stephen Glass, an intrepid, but endearing news reported for the New Republic. Over his three year stint at the Washington magazine, Glass went from rising star to famed fabricator, in what was one of the breakthrough moments for internet journalism.

The film relies on a fast pace and endearing characters to make you feel invested, and in this department, the movie succeeds. All the actors, from Hank Azaria to even Christensen, pull of believable and likeable performances. Each character seems completely natural in the newsroom setting and are truly the brightest part of a well-made film. The constant scene and locations changes, in addition to the actors, makes the subject of journalism feel intense and interesting.

At times the movie can feel exhausting, as Glass is pinned down and eventually wriggles free time and time again; however, the fall-from-grace narrative is rarely seen in the world of journalism and it seems that Shattered Glass succeeds where it counts.

3.5/4

News: What’s Up With That?

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I feel that this year has cast a rather negative light upon the subject of news for me. The post 9/11 generation, I believe, has been presented with a system of Journalism that thrives upon fear-mongering and conflict.

There seems to be no Walter Cronkite that everyone can tune into to obtain reliable news. The voices for our generation, often times, are comedians. When satire seems more reliable then broadcast journalism, I tend to think there is a problem.

I try to absorb and gather as much information as possible, but it almost seems impossible when the information is so biased. News, especially recent news, has just made me so tired. I have become numb to it all.

Pharmaceutical Company Chooses Profits Over People

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On Saturday of last week, an article, published by The Independent and written by Katie Forster, revealed that Aspen Pharmacare, one of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, was celebrating the price hikes of cancer drugs.

This revelation came about through the leaked emails of Aspen staff. Aspen had reportedly attempted to destroy stocks of life-saving medicine during a price dispute with the Spanish Health Service.

The article goes on to detail how certain chemotherapy drugs had risen from 4 to up to 12 times the original price in 2013. These price hikes have costed the National Health Service in England around £380m a year for prescriptions dispensed outside of hospitals.

Reports from multiple news outlets have detailed the exploitation of these health services by giant pharmaceutical companies. If the health services do not comply to outrageous demands, the companies will cut off the supply resulting in the deaths of many cancer patients.

A Department of Health spokesperson from the United Kingdom stated that the government is introducing laws that, “take action against excessive price rises on unbranded generic medicines.”

Aspen has yet to comment on these events.

Australian Lawyer’s Libel Suit Loses Steam

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A recent article, written by Shannon Deery of the Herald Sun, describes an ongoing lawsuit between the search-engine giant, Google, and George Defteros, an australian lawyer notorious for defending gang leaders.

Defteros claims that Google Australia’s search results constantly discredit him as a “Gangland lawyer.”

Specifically, Defteros said that,”[Google Australia] put you all over the internet and you’ve got to fight to clear your name.”

Defteros believes that the search results of major search engine companies should be qualified as publication and that Google should be held responsible.

To the surprise of no one, the case was dismissed immediately due to the fact that Google Australia had no control over the search results shown. That control is held by the headquarters of Google at Google Inc.

This setback has not stopped Defteros. He plans on continuing with the lawsuit until his libel issues are resolved.

Big Marijuana or Big Fear-mongering?

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In the past week, there was an op-ed posted pertaining to the legalization of recreational marijuana. The article, written by Patrick Kennedy and Kevin Sabet, argues that the leaders of the marijuana legalization movement are attempting to create a conglomerate, in order to push legalization for profit. Though the opinion of Kennedy and Sabet is not unfounded, their article is full of conjecture and bias that leaves much to be desired.

My initial issue with the article is that Kennedy and Sabet consistently make statements, such as, “Many marijuana advocates have one goal in mind: to get rich.” These statements are highly inflammatory, yet have no substance to them. There is no actual link or statement within the article that points towards any group of people pushing marijuana solely for profit. To compensate for this obvious absence, Kennedy and Sabet use phrases, like “Big Marijuana,” to put fear in their readers.

In addition to their lack of evidence, many of Kennedy and Sabet’s links within the article are from clearly biased sources that have a political agenda to achieve. In fact, one of their sources was nearly two years old and came from a website titled Marijuana Harmless Think Again.

I would agree that the information surrounding marijuana safety is unclear at the moment; however, articles, such as this one, only lead to fear-mongering and negativity.

-Dylan San Roman

Bill Paxton Dead at 61

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On the day in which film celebrates its crowning achievements, one of cinema’s most underrated actors, Bill Paxton, has passed away due to complications during heart surgery.

Hours after the information had been released to the public, journalists, Stephanie Petit and Maria Mercedes Lara, wrote a heartfelt piece on People, detailing his greatest achievements and his final hours.

Paxton had begun his career in the 1970s; however, it wasn’t until he began to accept roles, in such critically acclaimed films as The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986), that he began to become a household name.

Though he never became a star that consistently headlined films, Paxton consistently gave understated and impactful performances that aided to both the immersion and enjoyability of all the films he was in.

The final film that Paxton will appear in is The Circle (2017), starring Tom Hanks and Emma Watson.

As the final part of the article, Petit and Lara included a series of tweets Rob Lowe, a close friend to Paxton, wrote after hearing of the new of his passing.

We will never forget what Bill Paxton did for cinema.

RIP Bill.

OC 2: Network New

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After this opinion column was assigned, I decided to watch the NBC Nightly News due to my fascination with the ever-increasing forehead of Lester Holt. This then led me to view the November, 10th broadcast on my laptop. After sitting through the overwhelming negativity of the program, I was able to discern a clear set of values that was displayed throughout the entire show. NBC did not seem to add or subtract from the list presented to us in class, rather, it appeared as if NBC preferred to emphasize certain values over others.

The primary value that NBC prioritized, above all else, was impact. The primary story of Friday’s broadcast was concerning Edward Snowden and whether Russia was going to deport him back to the US, as a gift to President Trump from Vladimir Putin. This exchange was by far the highest impact story of the entire show, and the implications of this deportation could result in a large amount of influence in American politics being held by Putin.

After impact, the next two values that were emphasized to a greater degree were timeliness and conflict. Due to the nature of Trump’s presidency thus far, conflict within the political landscape is at a recent high. Furthermore, new stories are breaking weekly as each new executive order gets passed or cabinet position filled. An example of these values would be the second story of the broadcast, which centered on the miscommunication between Michael Flynn, head of national security, and Vice President Mike Pence.

The final value that was relevant in this broadcast was human interest. It appeared that, after all of the negative news presented at the beginning of the program, NBC preferred to finish on some happier notes, such as some astronomical activity, George Clooney’s incoming baby, or the departure of a panda from a zoo.

In conclusion, NBC seemed to be a relatively fair source of news, even though the overall tone felt a little too dreary for my taste.

-Dylan San Roman