"Reporter's Favorites" Interviews

The first person i was able to get in touch with was Sandra Trapani, who is the editor of the Salem News. Her favorite journalism movie was "All the Presidents Men." She says that when pursuing a story she feels much like Woodward and Bernstein did. As you discover more details of the story, your picture of what happens becomes more and more thorough. She said, "The more you uncover pieces of the puzzle, and usually that brings more questions and uncertainty and responsibility to tell the story right." She says that this is especially pertinent in today's world, as writers on the internet tend to write first and ask questions later.

The second person i interviewed was Robin Ellington, who is a freelance writer at the eagle tribune. Her favorite journalism movie was "Absence of Malice." This was a film released in 1981 staring Paul Newman and Sally Field. This film is about a newspaper pinning a murder on Paul Newman's character on some shady sources. Robbin said that this film shocked her because of the way the story was twisted by journalists. Journalists exploited the "grey area" of the story, and portrayed it in what ever way sold papers. Robin mentioned her favorite quote from the movie, "Everything they said was accurate, but none of it was true.” The paper winds up destroying a man's life, with extrapolation and incorrect interpretation. Robin said this was a great example of what not to do in journalism.