Watch the movie Spotlight. Pay close attention to the reporting process.

What “data”  the journalists dug up, collected and organized:

  • PD Numbers
  • The priest had molested kids at 6 different parishes
  • Documents proving the cardinal knew
  • Priest in Boston molested 80 kids, law documents proving the cardinal knew
  • File a motion to lift the seal off documents for the Geoghan Case
  • court cases
  • church directories–to track priests; to get stats
  • names of priests who’d been accused
  • legal records

What tools did they use?

  • the law
  • lawyers
  • written documents
  • printed documents

How did they analyze what they found?

  • they interview people
  • they looked at the data from a broader scope

How did they pull this all together to tell the story?

  • they interviewed people
  • they used the numbers to create perspective for the story

What were the editors doing? What was their role?

  • editors decide whether to do the story
  • make sure the story is moving
  • looking at the bigger story