It is somewhat ironic that a new media organisation, First Look Media, financed the Oscar winning movie about investigative journalism in the old media world. With The Intercept, First Look does have some of the characteristics of investigative journalism; but that is more due to the seed of its formation with Snowden's leaks.
What Spotlight shows, above all else, is how difficult investigative journalism really is - not only the amazingly long time it takes to really understand a story, identify sources, the emotional toll on the reporters and above all else - get the story right. It is the complete opposite of most modern media - publishing before verifying, publishing without getting the complete story or even understanding whether there is a story.
And in some ways, Spotlight asks the really difficult question - would a similar investigation be even possible by today's media - or is this really the homage to a lost profession? At the end of the movie, Stanley Tucci's character says - "keep doing what you do" - but are there really that many investigative reporters left in the world?
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