Journalism is probably one of the most fascinating professions out there. The media has an important role to play in modern society and could act as a very efficient tool towards smooth and accountable functioning of the various facets of modern society. The media can serve as a watchdog that keeps governments in check. It can serve as the medium that binds society together. It can be the perfect channel for spreading public awareness on critical contemporary issues.
Unfortunately it isn’t as simple as that. There are many factors at play, economics being one of the prominent ones. Then political ideologies sometimes creep in, and objectivity goes for a spin thereafter.
I saw two outstanding films this past week, both pertaining to journalism. One of them talked about the dirty side of the business, and the other was the story of a woman’s fight to uphold her journalistic principles. These are probably among the most powerful movies i have seen in recent times. Credit to Mrs Amreekandesi for rummaging through Blockbuster to find these gems.
Shattered Glass (IMDB)
This movie tells the true story of Stephen Glass, a reporter with a magazine called The New Republic. Glass is a young guy eager to make his mark. To get that extra edge he starts cooking up incredible stories devoid of any truth altogether. This goes on for a while before he gets caught up in this web of deception and his story on hacking titled ‘Hack Heaven‘ comes under scrutiny only to reveal that none of the colorful details portrayed in the story were true.
The real Stephen Glass got caught in 1998 after Hack Heaven was investigated by Forbes reporter Adam Penenberg and found to be an utter lie. It was later discovered that 27 of the 41 stories Glass wrote over the years were fabricated.
Shattered Glass is a fascinating, gripping drama.
More importantly, it raises a very important question regarding journalistic integrity. Given the commercialization of journalism, just how high are the chances of reporters fabricating facts that cannot be otherwise verified, to create a more entertaining story? Can we trust anything we read in our favorite newspaper/magazine?
I was reminded of that news item from a flooding incident a few years back where this news reporter was sitting in a canoe in water, giving the impression that there was such incredible flooding that you had to use boats to commute. As she was doing her bit on live television, a person walked right past her. There was barely a few inches of water on the road!
Our Indian news channels have become experts at over the top sensationalism these past few years, and i have always wondered how much of what they say is fact and how much is exaggeration, if not absolute fiction.
Media was supposed to be the watchdog of society. Who watches the media if it decides to go in a different direction?
This brings us to the other movie. A diametrically opposite theme, involving personal suffering to preserve the basic principles of journalism.
Nothing but the Truth (IMDB)
This movie tells the story of Rachel Armstrong, a reporter who writes a story revealing a covert CIA officer whose report on the involvement of Venezuela in an assassination attempt on the president had exonerated that country of any involvement in the incident, but was ignored and retaliatory strikes carried out. Rachel’s character is based loosely on the real life story of New york times reporter Judith Miller.
When Rachel is questioned about the source who revealed the identity of the CIA officer, she refuses to disclose that information. The government’s reasoning is that the person leaking such top class information needs to be investigated, but Armstrong refuses to budge. insisting on protecting the identity of her source. She is sent to jail and spends over a year in incarceration. Over time she gets beaten up, loses her husband, grows apart from her young son, but sticks to her principles.
It seemed a bit extreme sometimes, but then there is a thin line separating greatness and craziness.
In the face of adversity this journalist stuck to her values and took on the mighty US government, which is laudable, and the quality that makes journalism the great profession that it is.
I suppose there are all types of people in every profession. For every Stephen Glass there is a Rachel Armstrong fighting away. As long as we have such honorable people writing our newspapers and magazines, life is good
Both the movies are very well crafted dramas. I dont often sit through a movie without doing something in parallel, but i was unable to move from the TV screen throughout either of these movies. Highly recommended.
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Thank you for these nice capsules. This is a very interesting subject, and I’d love to watch these!
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@Mahendra – Thanks. I am quite sure you will like these movies.
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Thanks for sharing about the movies…will def watch them..
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They are in my queue now. Anyways, I was wondering what to watch next. Thanks!
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“This movie tells the story of Rachel Armstrong, a reporter who writes a story revealing a covert CIA officer whose report on the involvement of Venezuela in an assassination attempt on the president had indicted that country of any involvement in the incident, but was ignored and retaliatory strikes carried out. ”
surely the word you are looking for is ‘exonerated’ not ‘indicted’
read this book if you get a chance –> confessions of an economic hit man. the zeitgeist movie is a must watch too, if you have the time!
- s.b.
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@Indyeah and @Amit – Thanks!
@SB – And you win the prize for discovering the embedded bug to find out who is reading carefully!
Thanks for pointing out the error…mistake duely corrected. Thanks for the book link…it seems interesting.
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I’ve seen shattered glass and liked the movie. it was a gripping thriller more so because one knew that the story was based on a true life story. I love movies with the journalism theme being of the same profession and I think I better see the other one, nothing but the truth. Nice reviews!
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I just watched Shattered Glass and liked it. The supporting characters didn’t seem real though, so I Googled and found that indeed, those weren’t based on reality. Apparently, readers as well as some of the people Glass’s pieces talked about, criticized him consistently. But the editors stood by him (or didn’t question him). Many weren’t surprised though. They’d seen it coming.
Interesting take here: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/311bcigd.asp?pg=1
Thanks for the suggestions!
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Will be looking out for these. Thank you for the review.
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@Nita – Thanks. If you know of any similar movies, please do share. I am looking to feed my new found interest in journalism.
@Mridu – Thanks for that link. That is interesting information – i guess they took some liberties with the story for the movie. I found two more movies to watch from your link – ‘The Insider’ and ‘Live from Baghdad’!
@Mysoul – Thanks!
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Your story about the journalist sitting in a canoe reminded me of Juhi Chawla in Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. They faked wind, storm and rain to put together a news clip on flood hit villages.
My biggest shock from Shattered Glass movie was that i really believed this guy Stephen Glass, in the beginning of the movie, when he said all those lines abt being nice and friendly and news coming from people etc……But as the movie progressed my perspective, of people who are not so friendly at work place, changed. I think now I can more easily trust people who are not very social…..and vice versa. Some personal experiences recently have also contributed to this.
“Nothing but the truth” was a hard movie too. I don’t want to reveal the climax for your readers but I personally believed that I would never put my own child/husband through all this. Her decision is debatable and she could have found a middle path. I was really glad to see a happy ending. BTW for your readers, THE DELETED SCENES ARE A MUST WATCH!…especially the last one. I think the editor of the movie did a mistake by deleting it.
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