Newsmakers: Meredith Goldstein sees ‘Spotlight’ shine at the Oscars

Meredith Goldstein is a journalist for The Boston Globe. You know, “Spotlight”? But she’s not one of those reporters. She covers entertainment for the paper. And that’s how she ended up at the Academy Awards this year, when the film about her own newspaper was up for several awards.

Goldstein (’99) headed to Los Angeles after “Spotlight” — a film depicting The Globe’s investigation into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church — received nominations in six categories.

Goldstein, who served as editor in chief during her time at The Daily Orange, joined The Globe as a freelancer in December 2001, around the time the Spotlight team was working on its investigation into the Archdiocese of Boston. In addition to her entertainment reporting, Goldstein writes an advice column called “Love Letters.”

Though Goldstein had interviewed members of the movie’s cast, including Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams, she felt nervous when she showed up the Saturday before the awards at the Michael Sugar Pre-Oscar Party in the Sunset Tower Hotel.

“We had to ask ourselves, ‘How is that our coverage going to be unique?’” Goldstein said. “And we didn’t know the answer.”

That is, not right away.

When Goldstein arrived at the party, she texted a friend, told her who was there and described what was happening.

“That’s when I thought that’s actually maybe a better way to go,” Goldstein said. “ … If you are an LA Times reporter or a People magazine reporter, this is nothing new to you. But for me, the Oscars was a big deal, and I wanted to tell the reader about it just like I would tell my friend.”

In “What it’s actually like at an Oscar party,” Goldstein gives a play-by-play of memorable moments from her Oscar weekend. (“1. Arrive at party way too early. Tell the woman guarding the front door that I’m from The Boston Globe. “You know, ‘Spotlight!’ ” I tell her. She sends me to another door.”)

Though she was surrounded by reminders of her connection to the movie — including seeing colleagues mingle with their film counterparts — Goldstein kept in mind that the trip was a reporting assignment.

“Certainly, I am excited that there’s a movie being made out of my newspaper, but I have to take that out of the equation,” she said.

On the other side of that coverage was Spotlight reporter Sacha Pfeiffer. In the movie, she was portrayed by McAdams. In real life, Pfeiffer is Goldstein’s colleague and friend.

Like Goldstein, Pfeiffer said her experience attending the event was “fascinating and surreal.” But then, she let her journalistic instincts guide her, too.

“I approached it like a reporter, in the sense that my job often gives me unique access to interesting people and places, and the Oscars were another experience where my job as a reporter let me parachute into an interesting new world,” she said in an email.

Pfeiffer was impressed by the way Goldstein handled the story.  Goldstein arrived in Los Angeles the same day as the party, and had to “churn out a story as fast as she could,” Pfeiffer said.

“Writing an essay like this was not only creative, but was also strategically smart because it was manageable to produce quickly in the limited amount of time she had,” Pfeiffer said.

In her story, Goldstein wanted to show how surreal it was to cover the Oscars because of her connection to The Globe.

“When ‘Spotlight’ won the best picture, everybody started applauding me at the table,” she said, recalling one moment.

Back in Boston, the film’s win resonated throughout The Globe’s newsroom.

The day after the movie won the Oscar, journalist Jenn Abelson said she and her colleagues received “kudos” from readers, sources, friends and family from around the world. Also a member of the Spotlight team, Abelson watched Goldstein chronicle the historic moment for the paper.

“We all felt so proud to see The Globe’s investigative journalism recognized,” Abelson said. “ … It was a tremendous day to be a journalist at The Boston Globe.”

While that might have been true, Goldstein’s own story came to a Hollywood ending:

“I have been invited to a ‘Spotlight’ after-party at a place called Palihouse in West Hollywood. This is starting to feel normal — the dress, the running to parties, and the trays of food. And if this feels normal, it is time to come home.”