Portrayals of Journalism in Film: How One Communications Industry is Poisoning Another

Written by Katharyn MacDonald

Account Executive

Photo courtesy of Turner Classic Movies.

With politicians scorning and scapegoating “the media” and a rise in the use of generative AI in articles and publications, trust in journalism is at an all-time low. In fact, only 31% of Americans say they “have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the mass media,” which is 32% lower than the last record low.

What the world needs is some sort of extrinsic motivation to keep reading and watching the news, to keep trying to stay on top of what’s happening in the world around them. People need to know that journalists are braving the dangers and working day and night to bring these valuable stories to the public.

But do people think that?

To see, you have to consider what people think of when they think of a journalist. Because usually it’s not a real one, but a character in a movie. And that’s not a good thing.

“His Girl Friday,” a screwball comedy from 1940, has a lot of chatter to its name. But one of the strongest messages the beloved classic sends is that journalism is a field of manipulative crooks who bribe and lie their way through to get their scoop. While it’s obviously not common practice for journalists to hide murderers in their offices, the public may have no trouble imagining real journalists as those they see in the movie.

Movies that become classics have been known to influence attitudes and even change behaviors. The release of “Jaws” in 1975 led to a bloodbath in the real world—and not human blood. Shark killing and overfishing as a result of fear, hatred and misconceptions about the likelihood of shark attacks decreased the global population of sharks by 71% between 1970 and 2021, and 75% of sharks are at risk of extinction. While almost three quarters of journalists around the world haven’t been murdered in broad daylight, that doesn’t mean they aren’t at risk of extinction. Simply put, the films featuring immoral and shady journalists aren’t helping.

The depiction of female journalists in movies is also seriously skewed to satisfy men. Even movies like “A Private War” from 2018 that appear to portray smart and strong-willed female journalists limit their success and character development to the opinions of the male characters around them, their entire purpose being to be taken seriously by the men. These depictions don’t empower the female journalist perspective, but limit them to their gender identity.

While these elements may seem inconsequential, think about how often you watch movies versus how often you watch the news. The mere exposure effect causes the human brain to register what you watch more frequently as stronger or more truthful, since repetition enhances processing fluency. Even the most media literate can develop unconscious biases because of this effect. The more movies depict these characters in a negative light, the more they are contributing to myths surrounding the field of journalism.

The consequences of this? An uninformed public that has no choice but to blindly accept the actions of its governing body, as they have no ammunition. There’s no one doing research on the history of those trying to gain positions of power, and no one fact-checking statements by those already in power. There’s no room for further error, yet films are portraying journalists as unscrupulous and deceitful or vain and useless, and they’re not helping.