The 1981 film Absence of Malice, starring Sally Field and Paul Newman, is filled with intrigue and, unfortunately, shoddy journalism. Sally Field’s character is a reporter for a fictional Miami based newspaper who regularly makes fundamental reporting blunders. Among these mistakes are drinking on the job, going with a story after communicating with only one source, and maintaining romantic relationships with sources. While the film is intended to make a statement about truth and the effects of what is considered true, we could also use the film as a “what not to do” for our future careers in the field of journalism. What’s more, Field’s editor encourages some of her flawed tendencies, which underscores the importance of a good editor for a young reporter. Regrettably, Sally Field’s character had an incompetent editor and therefore had to learn correct reporting habits the hard way – through trial and error.
9 Comments:
Pat,
The drinking on the job is the journalistic faux pas I find most amusing, not to mention the fact that her editor actually encourages it. Thanks for this post it was enlightening.
-Nick
It seems like most people have talked about the fact that Field's character was a terrible journalist. Drinking on the job is something that is clearly not allowed, but she does and the fact that her editor encourages it was funny.
I was also slightly entrigued by the irresponsibilities of the editor. As a young journalist, you feel that you will be "protected" by your editor in the rules of journalism. But quite obviously, the film portrays that not even an editor is trustworthy, which is slightly disheartening.
It is very easy to see, through your review, that Megan was very irresponsible through her drinking on the job. It is also interesting to note how the editor did not back her up, which is disconcerting. You wrote an excellent review.
I agree with you that much of the reason Field's character was unethical was because of her money-obsessed editor. Had he discouraged these types of unethical practices, then Field's would have been more likely to obtain the story in the correct manner. She would not have been inclined to write a story without consulting more than one source. Moreover, she would have avoided a romantic relationship with the subject of the controversy.
I agree a good editor is absolutely necessary for a young reporter because if they learn correctly right from the beginning they will not make the mistakes later in their career. I also found the drinking on the job completely inappropriate and just stupid.
I agree that it was partly the editor's fault. I think she should have used better judgment regardless.
Good summary. I like your title - the sally field of journalism. In real life, this would not (make that SHOULD NOT) happen. There were so many missteps. But the problem is that some of these errors are repeated every day in newsrooms across the country.
I was surprised to see how prevalent drinking was in the journalism field, especially when Sally Field's editor encouraged her to make her coffee Irish. The editor's position in the movie was really discouraging, as he encouraged Sally Field's reckless behavior.
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