Professor leads panel discussion following film presentation

INDIANA, PA – Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s (IUP) Journalism and Public Relations Department hosted a free presentation of the film “Spotlight” on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in Room 225 of the Humanities and Social Sciences building. “Spotlight” is an Academy Award-winning film portraying investigative journalism and the child molestation charges brought on Boston Catholic Priests in 2001 and 2002.

The presentation of the film was followed by a panel discussion featuring IUP professors David O. Loomis from the journalism department, and Theresa Smith, who is also the Chairwoman of the Religious Studies Department.

Due to technical difficulties before the presentation began, “Spotlight” had an actual start time of 7:23 p.m. When the film ended after two hours and nine minutes, it left the audience in the large lecture hall, which was approximately half-full, shrouded in what seemed like solemn silence.

During the discussion panel portion of the event, Smith, wearing a black and white pinstripe vest, explained after the feature that child molestation cases involving priests are still surfacing today, even in areas of western Pennsylvania such as Pittsburgh, Altoona and Ebensburg.

Referring to a quote from the film, “If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one,” Smith asked the audience, “Who will blow the whistle?”

“The police and the newspapers were complicit with the cover-up for decades,” Loomis said, referring to the film’s portrayal of the illegal relationship between police and media outlets and the Catholic Church in Boston at the time.

“[The film gave] great insight on what investigative journalism can do for us to shed light on atrocities,” said Ethan C. Brogan, 21, IUP senior and Vice President of IUP’s Society of Professional Journalists.

IUP Journalism and Public Relations professor and Chairwoman Michele R. Papakie also attended the presentation, and although it was the second time she had seen the film, she expressed that the film remained just as poignant to her as the first.