Nightcrawler: Movie Analysis

Introduction

Nightcrawler, a 2014 film directed by Dan Gilroy, depicts a driven man, Lou, desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism. He blurs the line between observer and participant, and engages in controversial practice to capture the freshest materials for broadcast news. The film is dramatized to entertain the audience, however it reveals the inconvenient truth behind the news industry of forsaking professional principles for the sake of higher audience rating. With reference to Network, directed by Sidney Lumet in 1976, the attraction of violence will be discussed as well as its unfortunate impact on journalism ethnics. A case study of the American newspaper, The New York Post, will as well be included to further

In Network, the longtime anchor of the UBS Evening News, Howard Beale, announces on live television that he will commit suicide on next Tuesday’s broadcast after learning that he has been fired because of declining ratings. Having promised that he will apologize for his outburst, he again claims that life is “bullshit” when he is put on the air. Beale’s outburst causes the newscast’s rating to spike. In the most classic scene of the film, Beale galvanizes the nation and persuades his viewers to shout out of their windows, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” A personal show is set up for Beale, who is later assassinated by the television executives as the ratings of the show begin to

Lilly titled “The Ethics of Journalism”. In 1922, the American Society of Newspaper Editors stated the responsibilities of newspapers to be truthfulness, accuracy, impartiality, fair play and decency. Journalism is argued to be the key social and cultural forces in society and hence the issue of journalism ethics is significant. In 1900, the Philadelphia’s Press Club stated that responsible journalism should convey truth and enlightenment, raising the intelligence and sense of justice to serve as the fundamental to “the onward sweep of