I watched the Golden Globes, more to listen to the beautifully irreverent Ricky Gervais than any other reason, because I am out of the loop when it comes to television series and Netflix. But I was fascinated by the choice for best picture. "Revenant." I haven’t seen it, I won’t be in the near future. I have no doubt that the cinematography is wondrous. And DiCaprio, I am sure he was superb. But the story? It’s old. There are a million stories in the naked city (look up that TV show); just the names change. Same with this one. Revenge. Lots of blood and gore. Retribution. Primal instincts at work. The Bible tells us to leave vengeance to God. Then go out and live the best life you can. That is the sweetest revenge.
I hope Oscar is a little more discerning. We have trouble in the world. And a big part of the problems we face have to do with the silencing of the media from self-editing for fear of insulting one group or another and pressure from their governments. Let’s hope Oscar picks “Spotlight” and brings back the will and thrill of ethical journalism.
Washington Post writer Ann Hornaday wrote: “ It’s not a stretch to suggest that “Spotlight” is the finest newspaper movie of its era, joining “Citizen Kane” and “All the President’s Men” in the pantheon of classics of the genre.”
Spotlight is the name of a group of investigative reporters at the Boston Globe who revealed the horrific child abuse by Catholic priests that took place in the Boston area, and just as importantly the cover up by the Church. Kudos to Marty Baron editor of The Boston Globe who gave the story to the Spotlight team led by editor Walter "Robby" Robinson, reporters Michael Rezendes Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer.
Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote that in a democracy there is an agreement that makes it possible for citizens to “give up certain of their rights and freedoms, handing them over to a central authority, which in return, will ensure the rule of law within the society and the defense of the realm against external enemies.” It seems in every generation we need a reminder of the importance of media in a democracy to defend our rights and freedoms, particularly of the weak and voiceless, from abuse by those governments and large institutions. When journalists and editors do not take their oath seriously we end up with citizens who lose trust. Just look to Europe and the cover up taking place in Germany, Sweden and Norway by their governments and their institutions-the police.
New Year’s Eve in Cologne, Germany, was a night of assault and rape by immigrants and refugees from countries who have no respect for women. The police didn’t want to press charges. The politicians wanted to hide the truth for fear of offending the immigrants and refugees; and fear of being called racist and Islamophobic. And the German media stayed quiet. They were told not to publish.
“Both private and state-run media in Germany also followed their orders to cover up the mass refugee-invader sex attacks and violence. The ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, Second German Television), one of the largest federal state-owned broadcasters, for example, completely blacked out news of the nonwhite violence in its Heute (“Today,” its news program) broadcasts the following day, pretending that nothing had happened.”
The sexual assaults in Sweden were covered up by the police from fear of backlash by citizens who hear about the crimes being committed by people from another culture. Again, fear of being called a racist has led to self-editing by too many officials.
In this day and age social media can undo some of the damage caused by timid journalists and intimidated main stream media outlets, but that is not the point. Main stream media has a purpose in a democracy: to hold the government and all institutions to account. To inform the citizens of events that they personally cannot witness. To report facts and not cherry pick the ones that fit a pre-conceived narrative. Honest journalists know that what is left out of a story is just as important as what is written.
We are facing journalists who seem to be intimidated into leaving facts out so as not to upset their government’s agenda. This is happening all over the free world. We are being denied the facts. And when the citizenry cannot trust the media then we are left with conspiracy theorists and fear.
Now more than ever we need to put a spotlight on the importance of ethical journalism. If we don’t we will end up like Europe; or worse. We will lose hard won freedoms in the name of some ideology of extreme tolerance, accommodation and inclusion.
I hope Oscar realizes that, yes, Revenant and all the other films that will be up for Best Picture are excellent. But we need courage to promote fearless journalism; journalism that isn’t necessarily pretty. It’s hard slogging fighting against institutions that want to keep secrets. We cannot allow that to happen.
Let’s hope Oscar puts a spotlight on “Spotlight;” the importance of the connection between journalism and freedom.
Diane Weber Bederman is a blogger for ‘Times of Israel’, a contributor to Convivium, a national magazine about faith in our community, and also writes about family issues and mental illness. She is a multi-faith endorsed hospital trained chaplain.
