Shock and Awe

The 2017 film Shock and Awe is about journalists who work for Knight Ridder, who examine the ties between the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the possible connection with the Bush Administration.  

The film follows two journalists, Jonathan Landay and Joe Gallaway as they attempt to find a connection between the events that are occurring before their eyes. 

Since journalism plays a key role throughout the film, it is only fair to compare the characters in the newsroom and how their reactions to the unfolding events affect their reporting.

I wanted to point out how the frustration is shown predominantly in Jonathan as he and Joe strive to retrieve information following a connection with the Bush Administration. Jonathan and Joe reach out to higher-ups in the government to retrieve the information they are so desperate to find. But unfortunately they at most times are unsuccessful in doing so. 

Their frustration and irritation unfold
faster as they are forced to watch the news on the television in the newsroom where multiple politicians will come on screen and say their piece. 

A topic that we've discussed many times in class is the relationship between the press and the government. It is true and valid that there should be a large amount of transparency between these two groups of people so that the public has a right to know the truth.

The unfortunate truth is that most time the government shows very little transparency between itself and journalists. Due to this, it is not surprising that conflict is set to arise between the press and the government. 

Again, the frustration is seen in Jonathan and Joe in their attempt to retrieve information about the current events. 

As well as this irritation only becomes deeper as the characters are in a pre-war period. 

The Knight Ridder journalists in the film are the true heroes because they do everything in their possible power to get to the truth. Which causes a lot of frustration, stress, and irritability in both their professional and personal lives.

Journalists today should be seen as heroes because they will often do anything to get to the truth, sometimes even being at risk of losing their lives to do so.  

There are a lot of parallels between the events in the film and journalists today. For example, in Russia, they have strict rules regarding freedom of the press. That being that Russia has strict censorship rules when it comes to reporting and is not afraid to take negative action when needed. 

I believe that when journalists are told they won't have access to salvage the information that they need, they should have a right to possibly expose the source that is lying to them as it could potentially be a danger to the public.