Writers are often taught that to write well, they should write what they know. This could explain why there are so many stories written about journalists, who as writers, make easy characters for writers to write about.
The essence of a journalist's job is to deliver information, which is the job of stories themselves, so perhaps it's this inherent storytelling quality of journalists that make them fit as the natural subject for so many stories. Regardless of the reason, there have been movies about reporters for almost as long as movies have existed, and according to critics, these are the best.
Superman II (1980) - 83
It's hard to think of any fictional journalists more iconic than the Daily Planet romantic duo of Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) and Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) - Superman's famous alter ego.
In fairness to other journalists, Kent has certain abilities that allow him to become more involved in the stories he covers than ordinary reporters. When Lois discovers Clark's secret while covering a story in Superman II, he sacrifices his powers to be with her, which comes at a terrible time, since three Kryptonian super-criminals are planning world domination.
Network (1976) - 83
With three Best Screenplay Oscars to his name, Paddy Chayefsky is arguably history's greatest screenwriter, and his script for Network is widely-considered his greatest work.
When the deranged on-air ravings of a mentally unstable anchor (Peter Finch) inadvertently boosts his news program's ratings, his network's executives exploit the man's unhealthy mental state to turn a profit for themselves at his expense. Blurring the line between news and entertainment, the scariest thing about the story is that it's more relevant today than it was in 1976.
Broadcast News (1987) - 84
Eleven years after the near-perfect news satire in Network, critics lauded a romantic-comedy satire of the news industry in the form of Broadcast News.
The story follows a talented but high strung and emotionally troubled television news producer named Jane (Holly Hunter), who finds herself in a love triangle between two reporters with a rivalry resembling that of Edison and Tesla. Aaron (Albert Brooks) is a brilliant but unappealing veteran journalist, while Tom (William Hurt) is a charismatic but vapid newcomer who represents everything Jane hates.
All The President's Men (1976) - 84
The 200th anniversary of America's birth as a nation proved to be the most critically successful year for journalist movies, as All the President's Men won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay alongside Network's win for Best Original Screenplay.
This true story follows the two Washington Post reporters - Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) - who put their careers and lives in jeopardy while performing their investigation of the Democratic Party Headquarters break-in at the infamous Watergate Hotel that ultimately resulted in President Nixon's resignation.
It Happened One Night (1934) - 87
With a whopping five Academy Awards, It Happened One Night helped vault Clark Gable (Gone With the Wind) to icon status. This classic romantic comedy follows spoiled heiress Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert), who runs away from her family after they attempt to keep her from the conman she's impulsively married.
When cynical newspaper reporter Peter Warner (Gable) finds Andrews in her time of need, he promises she'll be reunited with her husband so long as she shares her story with only him, but the two slowly fall for each other along their journey.
The Passenger (1975) - 90
Originally titled Professione: reporter, the Italian movie The Passenger focuses on an American television journalist named David Locke (Jack Nicholson), who's sent to cover a civil war in Chad for a documentary.
Frustrated with his work, Locke decides to make a fresh start by faking his death and assuming the identity of the English businessman he discovers the dead body of. Locke soon learns the man was an arms dealer involved in the Chadian Civil War, and finds himself in the middle of his story while running from criminals and the law.
Almost Famous (2000) - 90
Perhaps no non-musical movie has ever delivered a more powerful message about music than Almost Famous - filmmaker Cameron Crowe's Oscar-winning follow-up to Jerry Maguire (1996).
The story sees William - a 15-year-old outcast high school newspaper reporter - given the opportunity of a lifetime when Rolling Stone magazine gives him the assignment of following and interviewing a new rock band called Stillwater during their 1973 tour, leading him on a coming-of-age adventure that will completely change his life, much to the dismay of his overprotective mother.
Spotlight (2015) - 93
Accusations of child molestation against Catholic priest john Geoghan began in 1976, but he wasn't exposed as the monster he truly was until 2001, and that wouldn't have been possible without The Boston Globe reporting.
Spotlight is tough to watch, as it consists of several people recounting their traumatic experiences being sexually abused as children, only to have their voices silenced by the Catholic Church, but the story must be listened to, otherwise, the work done by these brilliant reporters in exposing a truly massive cover-up was for nothing.
The Philadelphia Story (1940) - 96
Another classic romantic comedy involving a journalist, Philadelphia socialite Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) is set to marry the wealthy George Kittredge (John Howard), only to have her plans disrupted by the reemergence of her ex-husband Dexter (Cary Grant) into her life in The Philadelphia Story.
Tracy soon learns Dexter is working with tabloid reporter Mike Conner (James Stewart), whom she reluctantly agrees to let cover her newsworthy wedding, but in the chaotic night before the ceremony, Tracy finds herself torn between the love of all three men.
Citizen Kane (1941) - 100
With a perfect Metacritic score, Citizen Kane is considered by many to be the greatest movie ever crafted. The Orson Welles masterpiece famously opens with the elderly Charles Foster Kane (Welles) collapsing to the floor and uttering his final word - "Rosebud."
The Oscar-winning story alternates between Kane's troubled upbringing and rise to power as a newspaper publishing tycoon, and the present investigation by a journalist (William Alland) into Kane's life and the meaning behind his mysterious final word as he searches for the thing that journalists spend their lives pursuing - the truth.