Editor’s note: The following is a review from a Critical Writing and Reviewing student at the University of Missouri.
Here’s the conundrum of reviewing Reporter: It’s self-serving for me to tell you how moving it is and what essential work is being done by Nicholas Kristof during his constant excursions to the darkest corners of the globe. I want to say he shines light on those corners (he won one of his two [!!] Pulitzer Prizes for his crucial role in alerting the world that there was genocide occurring in Darfur). I believe he does. But then, I want you to believe in Kristof’s work and in journalism generally for totally selfish reasons (my own profession is, um, journalism). Why should you believe me when I tell you Eric Daniel Metzgar’s documentary is not just good but crucial?
You should believe me because I will never be the journalist Nick Kristof is. He’s not just great; he’s on another level. There is a certain kind of genius that just comes naturally. Perhaps you have been lucky enough to come across a person with this hardwiring in your own life; it’s a treat to watch such outliers in action. Kristof, equipped with Ivy League degree and an education in hard knocks six continents wide, makes a b-line for trouble like he’s missing some evolutionary biology, the part that makes us concede the relative lack of protection afforded us by, say, a pen and pad of paper and head away from the village where militias just slaughtered an unknown number of citizens. Kristof sees this as the perfect place to find his way into some hearts and minds back home. Metzgar makes a point of showing Kristof’s no-hesitation commitment to getting the best story.
Reporter follows Kristof and a teacher and a student who won a contest where the prize was going along with the venerable New York Times columnist. Metzgar was initially reluctant. He was offered the chance to follow Kristof with his camera but initially balked when he came across one particular line from the trip’s itinerary: “Visit the warlord Nkunda. Spend the night in the brush with his child soldiers.” He eventually changed his mind. Lucky us. The aforementioned visit with the warlord is only one of several occasions where Metzgar shows us what a truly professional journalist looks like in action. It unfolds something like this: Roll footage of group hiking up the hill that leads to the warlord’s mansion. Play audio from separate interview with Kristof where he’s talking about the challenge of asking the tough questions to a warlord (a warlord). Kristof is casual, disinterested, even, despite the fact that Nkunda can absolutely kill him and dump him in the bushes with impunity. We arrive at the table where the interview is to take place. Everyone’s maybe a little more careful with language, body and otherwise, and Nkunda arrives. Kristof starts him off with some softballs about his background and the goals of his NGO (Non-Government Organization), which is about where 99.9% of the population would have stopped. Kristof plows on, though, asking Nkunda about his role in the violence and pointing out that the biggest losers in all the constant fighting are the citizens Nkunda says he’s there to help.
So on one level, Metzgar made Reporter to demonstrate the function of journalism in society. As the profession falters in the face of rising apathy, it’s starting to be uncertain whether we actually need these people or if we can now disseminate information worldwide all on our own. The problem, as one person interviewed in the film points out, is that no one is entering “genocide” in his or her search engine. So we need someone to champion those without power, those forced into silence.
But Reporter is really more about the science of making people care, something Kristof is exceedingly good at. There are a number of passages in the film that talk about the psychology. One study shows that people are much less likely to donate when faced with two starving African children as opposed to just one. The idea that atrocities on a large scale too frequently become statistics rather than tragedies is well known, but that our sympathy erodes when the number rises to two? How are we supposed to combat the big issues with such erratic support?
For Kristof, the answer is to find that one person whose story is heartbreaking, relatable and a microcosm of the whole and enter there. He uses facts and statistics but uses them carefully and judiciously. He comes up with a hypothesis about the larger issue and tests it on the people it affects.
Metzgar has shot a gorgeous, difficult documentary and it is my profound hope, as a journalist and a human being, that Reporter picks up a head of steam and bowls over as many people as possible.
by Kiernan Maletsky
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