Episode 148: Walter Robinson - How Journalists Exposed the Catholic Sexual Abuse Story

Walter Robinson is an investigative journalist, an editor-at-large at "The Boston Globe," and is the Donald W. Reynolds Visiting Professor of Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.This is a rebroadcast of episode 42, from 2022.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(00:58) A path to journalism(10:00) The power and state of the Catholic Church during the late 80s and 90s(21:40) "The Boston Globe's" "Spotlight" team(28:10) The Catholic Church's reputation before the Spotlight team’s investigation(35:59) What was revealed in the church’s internal documents(40:56) The Church’s consistent strategy of protecting abusive priests(46:58) Nearly every bishop in every diocese knew about abuse and participated in a cover-up(53:27) The role of the Church's celibacy vow in incentivizing abuse(59:36) What explains the abusive behavior of Catholic Church priests?(01:04:06) Women's second-class status and the role of a free press(01:07:55) The need for a full confession from the Church(01:15:48) The role of investigative journalism today and why it matters(01:20:43) The importance of investigative journalists to think outside the box