Blog Post #4: The Boston Globe by Eleanor Whaley

Situation Definition:

In early 2002, the Boston Globe covered a series of small allegations towards Roman Catholic Priest in Boston accused of sexual abuse to minors.  The case was covered by the Spotlight team at the Boston Globe and shed light on what would later be realized as a National Epidemic. The Spotlight team was made up of three reporters and one editor.  These four people look up information about the case and estimate that about 6 percent of all priests’ prey on young members of the church.

Analysis:

This case made a huge impact on the Boston Community and won a Pulitzer Prize in Public Service.  According to the prize judges, the Boston Globe received its win “For its courageous, comprehensive coverage of sexual abuse by priests, an effort that pierced secrecy, stirred local, national and international reaction and produced changes in the Roman Catholic Church”. But was that prize earned ethically?  While researching this case I found a couple of ethical errors. First, would be naming the victims.  This case had to deal with a lot of victims that were children or adults that were molested when they were younger. Once their story was published however they had so many victims calling the Boston Globe offices that many of the victims offered to have their names used to spread awareness. Another ethical issue was the conflict of interest.  Although some of the members of the Globe Spotlight team weren’t actively Catholic, all of them admitted to being raised Catholic. The reporters and editors were either involved with the church, had priests as neighbors, or had family members active in the church.  The previous editor didn’t even consider researching this case because he didn’t want backlash from the church.  Did these connections and fears influence the way these reporters approached the church and its victims?

Conclusion:

While researching this case I learned a lot about Journalism. In an interview with The New York Times, Sacha Pfeiffer, one of the Spotlight journalists from the Boston Globe, said she hoped the film would help encourage a new wave of aspiring journalists to join the ranks. She said she had been speaking for several months at journalism schools and other locations with her “Spotlight” colleagues about the team’s work. Young people all over the country have said that because of the film, they want to become journalists, she said. “But I wonder, will jobs be there?”. I learned from this case that sometimes-traditional ethical standards need to be challenged.  Had the reporters not taken the risk they did, these priests may not have been caught and the public wouldn’t have been made aware that this was happening. It made me wonder whether or not journalists today are still taking risks today to uncover issues like this.

References:

{The Boston Globe-The Pulitzer Prizes}. “The Boston Globe.” The Pulitzer Prizes, www.pulitzer.org/winners/boston-globe-1

White, Christopher. “Why Catholics Should Be Grateful for ‘Spotlight’ and the Media’s Exposing Abuses within the Church.” ProQuest Historical Papers, The Washington Post, search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/1768786856?pq-origsite=summon&http://search.proquest.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/usmajordailies?accountid=13158.

Pratt, Timothy. “’Spotlight’ Oscar Warms Boston Globe, and Journalism.” ProQuest Historical Papers, The New York Times, 29 Feb. 2016, search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/1768718796?pq-origsite=summon&https://search.proquest.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/usmajordailies?accountid=13158.

pages/Tina-MacIntyre-Yee/546292802181984. “Boston Globe Reporter Headlines Child Abuse Conference.” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Democrat and Chronicle, 27 Apr. 2017, www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2017/04/27/sacha-pfeffer-bivona-child-abuse-boston/100968620/.

Davis, Jim. “Spotlight Church Abuse Report: Church Allowed Abuse by Priest for Years – The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com, 6 Jan. 2002, www.bostonglobe.com/news/special-reports/2002/01/06/church-allowed-abuse-priest-for-years/cSHfGkTIrAT25qKGvBuDNM/story.html.