The Guardian reports that in 2002, the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team, a group of five investigative journalists, uncovered the widespread sexual abuse of children by scores of the district’s clergy. The same team of investigative journalists also revealed a cover-up: that priests accused of misconduct were being systematically removed and allowed to work in other parishes once their victims attempted to speak out. The victims were also silenced by settling out of court.
The team’s investigation brought the issue to national prominence in the US, winning the Pulitzer prize for public service.
These journalists’ story, and those who suffered at the hands of the clergy, are the subject of Spotlight, the movie which stars Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams. The movie is highly-engaging, and anyone who fancies journalism will love to watch this. It is an inspiration to investigative journalists who now and then hit dead ends when trying to cover those stories that nobody wants to hear. Liev Schreiber acting as Marty, the news editor was brilliant, I totally loved him. I love how objective he was at that he kept the focus on writing a story that will have a long term positive impact on the city and not one that will only stop at increasing copy sales, I would kill to work in a newsroom headed by a guy like that. Mark Ruffalo acting as Mike was also very impressive. The movie was named one of the finest films of 2015 by various publications. Spotlight won the Academy Award for Best Picture along with Best Original Screenplay from six nominations in total.