ECHO has a long history of providing journalism to the Trinity community. Currently, it is run by Alex Dotsey who leads a team of students in the online newspaper course. On top of helping his students produce articles for the school newspaper, Dotsey has also made it a point to teach the importance of journalism, stressing that news keeps communities educated and involved, whether the news is nationwide or based right here in Louisville.

An area of study we’ve used in class is by watching films based on real events in which investigative journalism was able to change society for the better. These films cover many elements of journalism, but most importantly the importance of journalists informing the public about what was going on behind the scenes in our society.

The first of these movies is “She Said,” directed by Maria Schrader. This movie tells the story of the two journalists that investigated Harvey Weinstein, a famous Hollywood producer. Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the reporters featured in this case, worked tirelessly to expose his his history of sexual misconduct in the work place. The movie makes clear how powerful those in power can be, and how often devastated people are silenced. The film shows the effects that investigative journalism could have on the public to bring reform and improvements. The film also educates high schoolers who might be interested in journalism that it can be a very difficult career. There are many legal obstacles that journalists must get around to get down to the truth and expose it to the public.

The second movie was “The Post,” directed and produced by Steven Spielberg.

This movie tells the true story of The Washington Post publishing the Pentagon Papers. These classified documents exposed the United States government and its 20-year involvement in the Vietnam War. Against many governmental threats and potential crises this would cause for the paper, they published them anyways to keep the public informed on important information. It drove the point home of the importance of journalism and how decisions, both morally and ethically, can be very challenging.

These movies showed the class the importance of their job to a society. Journalism can bring the community together, and it can expose those in the wrong so we can make a brighter future. Journalism is necessary to keep communities running and is an important tool for everyday communication.