Absence of Malice

Absence of Malice explores a different aspect of journalism that we didn’t see in All The President’s Men. Megan Carter does not share many similar traits with Bernstein and Woodward, nor are their reporting styles the same. This film also conveys the conflict between disclosing damaging personal information and the public’s right to know.

When Mr. Rosen leaves the Michael Gallagher file on his desk, he is basically asking for Megan to read it. It was blatantly obvious that Rosen wanted Carter to get the investigation started. There was information that Rosen knew would serve Carter’s interests. As we see later on in the movie, Carter reacts to news irresponsibly sometimes, just as she reads the file on Rosen’s desk.

“You don’t write the truth, you write what people say!” I think this is a very interesting line from the movie and resonates with Woodward’s view that we write the best obtainable version of the truth. There’s no denying it’s hard to know when people are being truthful or lying to you. We never actually know what is true unless we see it with our own eyes. As journalists, we are writing what people say and at the same time, believing it’s the truth. Sometimes the best obtainable version of the truth is the information we get from what people say. At the same time, reporters always must fact check and confirm credibility to ensure that their version of the truth is in fact truthful.

Megan was irresponsible with the information that Teresa provided her. Teresa’s abortion was deeply emotional and extremely difficult for her, and Megan immediately began to write what she was saying down. Though she may have been on the record, Teresa was simply trying help her friend, and in return, her most personal information was sent out for the world to read. It affected every aspect of her life and ultimately cost her everything. I would have found another way to prove she was in Atlanta without having to go into the abortion details. They could’ve asked the doctor to be her alibi without announcing she was getting an abortion.

Absence of Malice also deals with libel, and the line between what is right and what is wrong. According to journalism.about.com, “Libel is published defamation of character, as opposed to spoken defamation of character, which is slander. Libel can expose a person to hatred, shame, disgrace, contempt or ridicule; injures a person’s reputation or causes the person to be shunned or avoided; injures the person in his or her occupation.” Mike Gallagher’s reputation was ruined because of the article Megan published. It was also not true. Megan was negligent in her reporting. Though she called him once, once is not enough. He had little chance to defend himself before publication of the article.

I think this movie says a lot about how media can impact normal people’s lives. Mike Gallagher’s last name brought him into this mess and his name also made him a target for Carter. People have committed suicide because of media attention, and I don’t believe that is right. There is no doubt that harm is inflicted on these people. Is that the job of the media, to report news that drives people to believe the only way out is death?

 

Sources:

http://www.cjr.org/critical_eye/absence_of_malice_1981.php?page=all

SPJ.org/codeofethics

journalism.about.com

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