State of Play: journalism review

"State of Play" showed an interesting side of journalism that I would never think of seeing. While watching this movie, it seemed like Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams were more like investigators for a police department than journalists.

You could definitely see the differences in types of journalism that these two practiced. Crowe was much more old school. He made his contacts with the police department to get his information while McAdams took a new school approach with new media (ie: blogging). She also received the pictures of the man that Sonia was with the day that she died. This wasn't necessairly a new form of journalism, but it was interesting to see how even pictures can help with a story. But it seemed like McAdams was very open to learning old school techniques from Crowe.

One thing that shocked me was when Crow black mailed the man that was seen with Sonia the day that she died. It really showed how cut throat Crowe was. He was trying to get every angle of the story and he knew this man had a side that he needed to get. I just didn't imagine a journalist going to such lengths to make someone talk. And then he secretly taped the conversation. It broke so many rules of journalism. Just didn't seem right. But it went along with the role that Crowe was playing.

This scene really showed the difficulties that journalists have to go through in order to get the sources they want. Obviously, not everyone would black mail their sources, but for Crowe, it seemed as if it was the only way he was going to make the man talk.