Reaction Paper: Nothing but the Truth

by: Yzelle Rose Pada

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(Official poster of the film)

The political thriller film, Nothing but the Truth, exposed significant issues in the field of journalism. Two of which are: the downplayed discrimination against female journalists and the concern regarding source protection. I see the movie as a clear narration of serious conflicts confronted by journalists every time they write, especially women in the profession. However, I am torn between the discourse of whether Rachel Armstrong’s decisions – that led her to nearly a year inside the jail – were wise, but most of the time I couldn’t agree more with her stance. She was indeed a “water-walker” who acted upon her principles as a journalist, she was brave enough to hold on to her vow that she will not, in any circumstances, reveal her source even if it jeopardizes the lives of the people involved and the oppression that the government had pulled against her.

The storyline is related to what Tom Rosenstiel had discussed about transparency replacing ‘act independently’ that determines the journalist’s credibility. In the movie, Rachel Armstrong was hopeful about the idea of a Pulitzer award, a dream for every journalist as they dubbed it, thus I was confounded whether she was after the glitters of her career or to bring wrongdoings by the government to the forefront, either of which had egregiously damaged her personal and professional life. In addition, the movie stressed that the absence of shield law resulted in limited protection of journalists from revealing their sources, similar to the insufficient scope of the First Amendment that was supposed to safeguard the reporter’s right when working with protected sources. Consequently, it was alarming to know that pressures from the government and people with power, without a shield law, would cause self-censorship among journalists because there’s the fear of being jailed – imprisoned at worst – suffering from the financial crisis, or losing a job. Also, private sources will be discouraged to give information because their identities will be revealed once the writer was summoned before a grand jury.

Vital issues were pertinently examined through the movie, and as the story unfolds, I realized how career, weaponization of the law, and principles can all get mixed up and as a journalist whose ethical responsibility is to deliver news that would create an informed and critical citizen, one must find the capacity to realize how far his/her story would go.

Lastly, Allison was indeed a tattletale.