If you are a journalism major, or just someone who loves the news, then these movies are for you. Journalists have been depicted as overbearing and pushy in media, but these movies capture a glimpse of the real life and pressures of a journalist. Watch these movies for insight in the adventures (and misadventures) of journalists:
6. Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is an oldie but goodie. While this movie focuses more on the fictional life of a media mogul, it is still a must-see journalism movie. One reporter investigates the mysterious life of Citizen Kane, a man who went into the newspaper business "for fun" and became extremely wealthy.
5. Broadcast News
Broadcast News is an equivalent to The Paper in that it almost perfectly depicts the newsroom scene but for a Broadcast rather than Newspaper newsroom. Broadcast News is also a fictional movie that focuses on the life of a few broadcast news reporters. The movie does a fantastic job at portraying the dedicated anchor, the attractive anchor that does not fully grasp the news he is discussing, and the controlling producer. If you are planning to go into broadcast news, this is a must-see movie.
4. The Paper
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The Paper perfectly captures the hectic newsroom scene. The fictional movie follows the life of a reporter in making tough decisions regarding his life as a journalist and his life as a married man with a baby on the way. He struggles to decide between keeping his job at the New York Sun for its upbeat pace and the coworkers he has grown to know and love or the Sentinel, an upscale paper that will allow him the nine to five lifestyle his wife begs him to consider with a child on the way.
3. The Post
The Post is a recent movie depicting the true story of the Washington Post journalists who wrote about the top-secret Pentagon Papers which disclosed the events from the presidencies of Harry Truman to Lyndon Johnson concerning the Vietnam War. This is an incredible story of the first female publisher, Katherine Graham, played by Meryl Streep. Against all odds, as a woman in an industry run by men, she risked losing her family's paper and her source of livelihood by publishing top-secret information that had been leaked from the Pentagon. While the movie is not perfect in correctly capturing the details of the newsroom, the movie captures a historic moment in journalism history.
2. Shattered Glass
Shattered Glass follows the decline of Stephen Glass, a writer for the New Republic, who fabricated more than half of the stories he had written for the New Republic. Watching the movie, based on the true story of Glass, can make any journalist squeamish. Glass completely made up sources and facts – something that is a downright sin for any journalist.
1. Spotlight
Spotlight is an amazing depiction of investigative journalists. In this movie, several journalists working for the Boston Globe work to uncover the scandal of child molestation by Catholic Church priests in Boston. The movie follows the journalists as they make tough decisions to unveil a story that will shake the foundations of the Catholic Church nationwide - and the lives of their friends and family. The story is based off of real events that occurred when the Boston Globe worked on the story in 2001.