While you’re thinking about getting the scoop that could pop up all of sudden or the journalistic agenda or even that specific text of communication theory you should have read, stay tuned in this list to inspire your studies in journalism.
1. Gilmore Girls (TV Show)
This dramedy series about the relationship between Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) tells the story of a single mother and her genius teen daughter at the little town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. In the fourth season the plot revolves around Rory’s studies and her decision about pursuing a career in Journalism and, consequently, it shows her ups and downs to face the usual challenges of the job market in this area as well as the desire of becoming a distinguished journalist, what afterwards happens when she works as a reporter on Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign.
Alexis Bledel and Rona Benson in Gilmore Girls | Image Source: IMDb
2. Truth (Movie)
The political docudrama film is about a 2004 report released just before the presidential election on the American television program 60 Minutes, broadcasted by CBS, in which is claimed that George W. Bush, when young, had received a special treatment during his period in Army and the Vietnam war due to his father’s clout. This scandal was a complete scoop discovered by the journalist Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) and presented by the influential anchorman, Dan Rather (Robert Redford).
Robert Redford as Dan Rather, in Truth | Image Source: IMDb
3. Citizen Kane (Movie)
The Orson Welles’ drama is a 1941 movie based on William Randolph Hearst’s life and his influence in the Yellow Press. The Charles Foster Kane’s death, a publishing tycoon, is surrounded by news reporters who aim discovering his last utterance, ‘Rosebud’. It’s a classic film for those who are curious about Journalism and its ethical dilemmas.
Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten and Everett Sloane | Image Source: IMDb
4. Nightcrawler (Movie)
This thriller is about a con man called Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), who is desperate for work, and it covers the relationship between consumer demand and unethical journalism since then he chases for covering murders and accident deaths at first hand. In the course of his professional advances, Bloom crosses the line between being just an observer to now becoming a participant and modifier of the clues to his own benefit.
Jake Gyllenhaal as Louis Bloom Image Source: IMDb
5. In Cold Blood (Book)
This non-fictional novel, written by Truman Capote, is a milestone to New Journalism. It describes the real Clutter family savage murder by blasts from a shotgun in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. The crime hasn’t had any apparent motive and only a few clues. Capote leads the reading to a suspense and astonishing reconstruction and investigation of the murder as well as he captures all the uniqueness of the killer pair, Perry Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock.
6. Spotlight (Movie)
The old-school Journalism film is about the team of Boston Globe reporters and editors that uncover a scandal related to clergy child abuse, what causes a conspiracy due to the the cover-up by the local Catholic Archdiocese, including the widespread recognition in regard to Catholic Church all over the US, and afterwards, to other countries as well.
Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight | Image Source:IMDb
7. Numero Zero (Book)
This Umberto Eco’s novel has as narrator Colonna, a 50-ish hack journalist, who is hired to be the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Domani (Tomorrow), however, it’ll never be published. The undertaking is financed by Commendator Vimercate, an influential publishing tycoon, that has interest on it only to blackmail the powerful and earn money at the expense of them. The book criticizes the Clean Hands (Mani Pulite) scandal, an Italian corruption system, and also the production of vague and unproven accusations by press.
8. Jogo de Cena (Documentary)
This Brazilian documentary, directed by Eduardo Coutinho, puts its own genre in discussion with the support of metalanguage when the director announces he’s looking for women willing to share her living experiences in front of a camera, as an in-depth interview. The plot twist pops up from the moment actresses play the roles of the previous interviewed ones, telling the same stories. The great idea is when you get confused about who is really telling their own truth, therefore the name for the documentary.
9. The Devil Wears Prada (Movie)
The new Journalism graduate Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) gets a job as an assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the demanding editor-in-chief of Runway magazine, in which is about high fashion. During her experience, she tries to survive from all the ‘impossible’ challenges her boss demands and her threats to fire with no reasonable motives.
Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, in The Devil Wears Prada (Image source: IMDb)
10. How I Met Your Mother (TV Show)
This sitcom mostly revolves around of Ted Mosby’s (Josh Radnor) story and about how he met his wife. Even so before it finally happens, he met the Canadian Journalist Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), for whom he fell in love. After moving to NYC, she gets a job as news anchor for the channel Metro News 1, and since then she faces the many obstacles from this profession as well as later becoming the host of her own early-morning talk show.
Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky, in HIMYM | Image Source: IMD)