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Spotlight:
Using films to
teach journalism
By Michael Hernandez
HOW TO USE THE ACADEMY AWARD WINNER
FOR BEST PICTURE IN YOUR CLASSROOM
THIS FALL
S
potlight snagged the Academy Award
for Best Picture in 2016, most likely
because of its context in the current
decline of newspapers rather than its
filmmaking prowess. However, journalism
teachers immediately became excited to have
another film to add to their teaching library;
one that is new, has fresh faces, and allows for
discussions of ethics, politics, history courage
and personal limits.
The film recounts the process of the Boston
Globe’s investigative team, “Spotlight,” as they
uncover the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal
in the early 2000s. Like most films used to teach
about an historical event, some of the events
are dramatized for narrative effect.
Rather than get bogged down on stylistic
details of how the movie was made or what
it left out for dramatic purposes, we can use
films to ignite discussion and make students
question their own perceptions.
I plan to screen “Spotlight” in my first week of