"Journalism lives!" was the triumphant tweet from the Pulitzer Prizes Sunday night as journalism procedural tale "Spotlight" took home the statue for best film of the year.
Telling the true story of the Boston Globe reporters who exposed widespread pattern of sexual abuse within the Catholic church, "Spotlight" gives the journalism industry a boost when it most desperately needs it. Just as "All the President's Men" before it, an Oscar win can only help a line of work so publicly mistrusted and often ranked as one of the worst jobs a person can get.
At least, that's what many in the business are hoping following "Spotlight"'s big win.
"Journalism, so often maligned, finally gets the credit it deserves. Congrats to those heroic Boston Globe staff," Piers Morgan tweeted.
"I cried watching Spotlight both times I saw it. And am crying now. Honest. The industry needed it. The media industry, not film industry," tweeted Buffalo, New York, journalist Alan Pergament.
Others, like real-life "Spotlight" former editor at the Globe Martin Baron, hope the film will do more than bouy discouraged journalists, but underscore the importance of the sort of journalism "Spotlight" champions.
"The rewards will come if this movie has impact: On journalism, because owners, publishers and editors rededicate themselves to investigative reporting. On a skeptical public, because citizens come to recognize the necessity of vigorous local coverage and strong journalistic institutions," Baron wrote of the award fervor in The Washington Post.
The true reward of "Spotlight," for journalism, will not be with how viewers admire a form of journalism that's fallen by the wayside in a wave of celebrity news and clickbait, but if its viewers demand and support deep, investigative journalism in the future.
"Journalism isnt cheap and we can't do it without your support," the Center for Public Integrity wrote. "The victory of documentary drama Spotlight in the Best Picture category in the Oscars is a timely reminder of the value of investigative journalism."
Telling the true story of the Boston Globe reporters who exposed widespread pattern of sexual abuse within the Catholic church, "Spotlight" gives the journalism industry a boost when it most desperately needs it. Just as "All the President's Men" before it, an Oscar win can only help a line of work so publicly mistrusted and often ranked as one of the worst jobs a person can get.
At least, that's what many in the business are hoping following "Spotlight"'s big win.
"Journalism, so often maligned, finally gets the credit it deserves. Congrats to those heroic Boston Globe staff," Piers Morgan tweeted.
"I cried watching Spotlight both times I saw it. And am crying now. Honest. The industry needed it. The media industry, not film industry," tweeted Buffalo, New York, journalist Alan Pergament.
Others, like real-life "Spotlight" former editor at the Globe Martin Baron, hope the film will do more than bouy discouraged journalists, but underscore the importance of the sort of journalism "Spotlight" champions.
"The rewards will come if this movie has impact: On journalism, because owners, publishers and editors rededicate themselves to investigative reporting. On a skeptical public, because citizens come to recognize the necessity of vigorous local coverage and strong journalistic institutions," Baron wrote of the award fervor in The Washington Post.
The true reward of "Spotlight," for journalism, will not be with how viewers admire a form of journalism that's fallen by the wayside in a wave of celebrity news and clickbait, but if its viewers demand and support deep, investigative journalism in the future.
"Journalism isnt cheap and we can't do it without your support," the Center for Public Integrity wrote. "The victory of documentary drama Spotlight in the Best Picture category in the Oscars is a timely reminder of the value of investigative journalism."
