With a suggestion from their new editor, a group of journalists begins to investigate for The Boston Globe’s next big story. Known as the Spotlight team, the members collect information about a priest who has been moved to different churches numerous times. What was originally believed to be one priest sexually abusing children turns into a search for 13 priests. Eventually leading into the exposure of 87 accused priests, the team learns just how big the story at hand is. It’s a race against time to gather every piece of evidence before another newspaper learns about the story. With a deadline that could move up at any given moment and the Catholic Church watching every source’s move, the film “Spotlight” is something you don’t want to miss.
Some may have heard of priests sexually abusing children before watching the film, but few would have suspected how big the issue actually was. It never occurred to many how extensive it was, and they never would have suspected so many priests to be involved, or how many victims there were.
The whole Spotlight team gave up many nights of sleep while gathering evidence for their story. Whether it was searching through the lists of priests, contacting survivors or getting confirmation on facts for their story, all members took a hit on their sleep schedules. Those weren’t the only schedules that were affected, though. The team also gave up valuable time with their families in order to write the story.
Mike Rezendes wasn’t able to see his wife very often, and their relationship suffered from his job. He had to live separately from her in a rundown apartment until, as he said, they could work things out.
Matt Carroll lost time that he could have spent with his wife and children, but he knew that the story was important. If he didn’t help to get the story out to the public, he would have worried a lot more about his children, especially after finding out that there was a priest “treatment” center right down the street from where they lived.
Robby Robinson risked his career by taking on this story. There were many times when Ben Bradlee, Jr., his supervisor, didn’t believe that the story would turn out to be as big as it was. Robinson had to frequently assure him that this story was worth it and to ask for more time. He also risked The Boston Globe’s chance at covering the story first by waiting to release the story. Rezendes was upset with him for doing this and said that other papers could pick up the story, get crucial information wrong and have the Church pick it apart before they could get the true story out. Robinson knew this, but still waited for more evidence. Because of his choice, the team was able to gather all the required information in order to have a true story, one that the Church couldn’t legitimately refute.
Sacha Pfeiffer gave up a lot of time that could have been spent with her husband. Their relationship did not fall apart, as Rezendes and his wife’s had, but she still struggled with not being around him as often. She also misses out on going to church with her Nana, but that is not caused by her work schedule. She stops because she feels uncomfortable as she’s writing the story and after it has been published.
Through their perseverance, the Spotlight team members learned that by sticking to the story they believed in, they were able to inform the public and reveal what the Church had been hiding. They also learned that by not releasing the story too early, they were able to collect all of the available information and create a true, thorough story that the Church couldn’t successfully deny. Even though releasing it before another paper could sounded like a good idea, Robinson knew that waiting would be the better idea.
