Infinitive Splitter

The Columbia Journalism Review’s Gal Beckerman writes, at the end of a post noting the journalism profession’s decline in cultural nobility:

I can’t remember a positive portrayal of a reporter on film in the last few years. The first journalism movie from recent times that even comes to mind is [Shattered Glass]. Oh boy, this is not a good sign.

Shattered Glass was the first that came to my mind, too, but with a liberal interpretation of “the last few years” (let’s say 15), I can think of a few others:

• The Insider (1999) earned seven Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture. Al Pacino’s portrayal of 60 Minutes’ Lowell Bergman wasn’t necessarily the height of feel-goodery, but it showed some impressive commitment to telling a story that needed to be told.
• City of God (2002) gave us Rocket, the young photojournalist who (reluctantly, at first) risked his life covering a gang war in his own neighborhood. Reminiscent of the Iraqis who help foreign reporters tell the news from their country?
• Almost Famous (2000) featured a young, impressionable reporter attempting to divorce his mess of friendship with, admiration of and disdain for his subjects from his responsibility to report credibly on them.
• Anchorman (2004) exposed a television reporter’s struggle with the cultural and professional standards that his own medium helps to create and enforce. Also, there was a totally hot babe involved.
• The Paper (1994) is the reason why I stretched the timeline back so far. It’s the best journalism movie since All the President’s Men.