journalism films
Movies inspired by and based on true stories.
View trailers, reviews, films, and facts about journalism films. Discover the facts vs. fiction, history vs. Hollywood.
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Most films included are highly rated on Rotten Tomatoes and the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). They have at least a 70% or 7/10 rating from critics and audiences alike, many with 80% or 8/10 or above. Enjoy the best true story films about journalism!
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Scene from Spotlight (2015)
Check out these top films about journalism and journalists, and discover the facts vs. fiction behind them.
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Films in alphabetical order:
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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
PG | Biography, Drama, Family | Lloyd Vogel is a cynical journalist who interviews the kind-hearted television show host, Fred Rogers, with whom he builds an unlikely friendship.
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R | Biography, Drama, History | Mariane Pearl travels to Pakistan in a desperate search to find her husband, journalist Daniel Pearl of The Wall Street Journal, after terrorists capture him.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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This Day in History: February 01 Journalist Daniel Pearl is murdered on History.com
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Reporter Daniel Pearl Is Dead, Killed by His Captors in Pakistan by a Wall Street Journal staff reporter, February 24, 2002
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The New York Times articles on Daniel Pearl
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A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband, Danny Pearl book on Amazon
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"There’s the Danny—I’ve read his articles—who even if he is proud of America, thinks that America and, in general the West, has an obligation to the world, owes the world something. There is the diehard humanist who, in spite of everything he sees and has seen in his life, continues to want to believe that man is not a predator to other men, but a brother, a kindred spirit. There is the journalist who through his reporting goes unflaggingly towards the forgotten of the world, pays his debt, our debt, the debt of the hordes of smug and overfed Westerners who couldn’t care less about world poverty and don’t consider themselves “their brothers’ keepers.” - Lévy, B.-H. (2014). Who Killed Daniel Pearl?
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R | Biography, Drama, Journalism, War | Marie Colvin is a brave, rebellious, and celebrated war correspondent driven to the frontlines of conflicts around the world to bear witness to the horrors of war and give a voice to the voiceless.
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Telling legendary journalist Marie Colvin's story in 'A Private War' ABC News video on YouTube
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Marie Colvin wins 2000 IWMF Courage in Journalism Award video on YouTube showing Colvin's acceptance of the International Women's Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Award
All the President's Men (1976)
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PG | Drama, History, Journalism, Thriller | Two new reporters for The Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, research the 1972 Watergate scandal with the help of a mysterious source code-named Deep Throat, an investigation that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
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R | Biography, Drama, Journalism | In 1970s Sarasota, Florida, Christine Chubbuck is an ambitious, 29-year-old TV reporter trying to advance her career, struggling with depression and professional frustration when the station manager requires her to cover stories at odds with her wish for more serious journalism.
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Coming soon!
R | Biography, Crime, Drama, Journalism, Mystery & Thriller | In 1996 California, journalist Gary Webb begins investigating the CIA's role in the 1980s operation to smuggle crack cocaine to Los Angeles to obtain money and weapons for the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
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Unrated | Biography, Drama, Journalism, Thriller | In the early 1930s, a Welsh investigative journalist travels solo into the Soviet Union, discovering deadly famine in the Ukraine, uncovering an international conspiracy and sharing the news in Western media, which inspires George Orwell's parable Animal Farm.
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Coming soon!
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R | Drama, Law & Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Journalism | Inspired by the true story of reporter Judith Miller, who writes a story outing covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. The characters' names are changed in this fictionalized version of the story, which dramatizes the reporter's refusal to reveal her source and its legal repercussions.
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According to the caption in the opening credits, this is a work of fiction inspired by a true story. Contrast this film with Fair Game (2010), a film based on the true story and told from the perspectives of the former CIA agent and her husband.
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Judith Miller in The First Amendment Encyclopedia on Middle Tennessee State University
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This Day in History: September Reporter Judith Miller released from prison on History.com
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Judith Miller biography on Wikipedia. Excerpt:
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"On October 1, 2004, federal Judge Thomas F. Hogan found Miller in contempt of court for refusing to appear before a federal grand jury, which was investigating who had leaked to reporters the fact that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative."
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Government's Memorandum in Opposition to Judith Miller's Motion for Reconsideration or a Supplemental Order Designating a Particular Place of Confinement Case No.: 04-MS-407 (D.D.C.) (Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan) - on The United States Department of Justice website
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Miller v. United States - Opposition Docket Nos. 04-1507 and 04-1508, brief for the United States in opposition to a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit - on The United States Department of Justice website
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PG-13 | Drama, Journalism | Young journalist Stephen Glass is discovered to have fabricated more than half of his articles for The New Republic magazine.
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Steve and Me: How accurate a portrayal of journalism is Shattered Glass? by David Plotz on Slate
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Stephen Glass Interview (2003) on YouTube
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Chuck Lane Interview About Stephen Glass (Audio) PART 1 on YouTube
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Chuck Lane Interview About Stephen Glass (audio) Part 2 on YouTube
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Adam L. Penenberg: “My Life As... “ (Excerpt: Behind the Story of Shattered Glass) on YouTube
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In Re Stephen Glass: Oral Arguments on CaliforniaCourts YouTube Channel
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R | Biography, Crime, Drama, Journalism, Thriller | Edward Snowden is a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who leaves his job to leak classified information about the NSA tracking all forms of digital communication from not only foreign governments and terrorist groups but also ordinary Americans. In so doing, Snowden becomes a traitor to some, a hero to others, and a fugitive from the law.
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Citzenfour (2014): the documentary on which the film is based
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Glenn Greenwald: Why privacy matters 2014 TED Talk
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How we take back the internet | Edward Snowden 2014 TED Talk
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R | Biography, Crime, Drama, Journalism | In 2001, journalists at The Boston Globe investigate and uncover the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the Roman Catholic Church.
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Based on a True Story? Scene-by-scene Breakdown of Hollywood Films on information is beautiful
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R | Biography, Drama, Journalism, Law, Thriller | Lowell Bergman is the producer of the TV show 60 Minutes who pursues a story from Jeffrey Wigand, a research chemist reluctant to share his knowledge of Big Tobacco's industry secrets as the corporations and courts stand in the way of exposing the truth.
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The original 1996 interview "Jeffrey Wigand: The big tobacco whistleblower" on the show 60 Minutes on YouTube, the inspiration for the film
R | Biography, Drama, History, Journalism, War | In 1970s Cambodia, New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is covering the Cambodian Civil War, accompanied by local interpreter and journalist Dith Pran, as well as American photojournalist Al Rockoff. Schanberg exits the country, but Pran stays in Cambodia to his peril as the Khmer Rouge rebels take over and the tyrant Pol Pot leads a genocide.
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“The Death and Life of Dith Pran” book by Sydney Schanberg on which the film was based
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Khmer Rouge by history.com editors
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How Dith Pran’s Remarkable Survival Story Exposed Cambodia’s Killing Fields article by Jessica Pearce Rotondi on history.com
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Chronology of Cambodian Events Since 1950 from Yale University Genocide Studies Program
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Beyond the Killing Fields: The Official Website of Sydney Schanberg
More to Come!
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Are there any more films based on true stories about journalists to include here? More facts vs. fiction? Reach out and contact me. I am open to respectful questions, comments, positive feedback, and constructive feedback about this website. Thank you, and enjoy the movies!