"Reporter" to show 2/21 2:30pm, and Metzgar interview

[Ethan Scarl]

Just saw the film "Reporter," shown as part of the Portland International Film Festival.  It follows acclaimed reporter/NYT op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof into the war zones of the Eastern Congo.   Kristof's resources, depth, and purpose may now be unique. 

 

A powerful movie, whose real topic is the state and fate of investigative journalism.  Kristof and Metzgar take account of current research into what does or does not engender effective caring in an audience's response to journalism.

 

Here's the PIFF's blurb:

Old-fashioned investigative journalists who rely on a unique synthesis of persistence, guile, courage, curiosity and very thick skins to break the news are increasingly in short supply. One such rare creature is New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof. Kristofs columns have earned him two Pulitzer Prizes, convinced Bill Gates to significantly increase his charitable donations, introduced the world to places like Darfur and arguably changed the tide of history. Filmmaker Metzgar trailed after Kristof when he took off to pay a visit to rebel warlord General Nkunda in the middle of a Congolese jungle in 2007. What Reporter reveals is the dangerously high price of reporting on world events at a time when the translation of complex facts half a world away into meaningful, impelling stories has never been as necessary nor as urgent. (92 mins.)

 

"Reporter" will show once more in the PIFF, on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 2:30 pm in Theater 1 of the Regal Broadway Cinema at 1000 SW Broadway.  Half the tickets are available in advance from the Art Museum (1119 SW PArk AAve at main St) or (for $1 more) from www.nwfilm.org or 503-276-4310.

 

The last edition of PBS' NOW (Feb. 12) was Brancaccio interviewing Eric Metzgar (whom  you hear but do not see in the film) about the movie.  Contains a good bit of the movie's meat, plus more focus on the ethical implications of Kristof's methods. You can find this at

 

     http://feeds.pbs.org/pbs/now-audio

 

Go to Caring About Congo, Feb. 12, or go directly to

 

     http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/607/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pbs%2Fnow-audio+%28now-audio%29

 

[Note: On http://feeds.pbs.org/pbs/now-audio see also Saving American Journalism on January 15 for the interview with Bob McChesney and John Nichols.]

 

     - Ethan

Ethan Scarl
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