Spotlight begins with a group of investigative journalists doing research for their next project when a new editor comes in and points them in a new direction. The new editor has them file an injunction to release sealed documents about the archdiocese. While they wait for that to be processed they begin interviewing lawyers who were involved in related cases in the past. They gathered old columns and related stories about the cases and in order to find other victims or involved parties to get first person testimonies. They found that all the settlements were made in private and therefore there wasn’t an official paper trail. At this point all of their information was on notepads and folders strewn all over the office. They found public church directories that listed where all the priests were stationed at a given time. They then discovered an “official designation” which they were able to use to track which priests were moved and and where and were able to surmise that those priests were probably part of a corrupt clergy. They then put all the priests who had “sick leave” designation and where they were moved to into an excel like database in order to find out how many priests were involved. From there they sought out victims and involved parties to prove that there was an intricate cover up by high ranking members of the church specifically the Cardinal. They then had to track down court documents that had been removed but were part of a private injunction. However when the reporters finally had all that they thought they needed to publish the editor still wanted to wait to publish. After the judge ruled in their favor the story suddenly was on a deadline. They had to publish their story before the documents were available for other publications to look into. Once they published multiple other victims came forward. It was very interesting the first time i watched this movie to see how the story slowly shaped and changed as they were able to interview more people. I think the second time watching it I was more aware of how difficult it was for them to extract information from responsible parties. Also, it was interesting to see how journalism can be crucial to the judicial system. There are is a lot of red tape but freedom of the press can be essential in cutting through all the minutia and making pertinent information available to the public.