Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter.
Lisa Rosenberg argues, "Even Hollywood cannot seem to get enough of whistleblowers."
Whistleblowers are heroes in the movies and in real life
Rosenberg is executive director of Open the Government, a nonpartisan group advocating for government transparency and accountability.
It is hard to ignore whistleblowers these days. A whistleblower complaint about a controversial exchange between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky triggered the impeachment inquiry and subsequent trial that dominated the news for months. Even while it was focused on the impeachment trial, the Senate was also looking into reports from another whistleblower alleging that a Trump political appointee interfered with an audit of either the president or Vice President Mike Pence.
Even Hollywood cannot seem to get enough of whistleblowers. While movies and television shows about whistleblowers are not new, the theatrical and Netflix releases of several movies last year suggest a growing appetite for more insight into who they are and how their commitment to creating an accountable society benefits the greater good.
Pheasant Glen Forum for Happy Strong Citizenship
Organizer: RepresentUs
Everyone knows our political system is broken. Here's what most people don't know: We can fix it. Unbreaking America shows why nearly every issue we face as a nation is caught in the grip of corruption – and what we can do to stop it. At Represent LA Verkin's Unbreaking America Screening, you will:
- Watch Unbreaking America: Divided We Fall, the short film starring Michael Douglas, followed by a discussion about America's corruption crisis
- Connect with current RepresentUs members in the La Verkin, Utah area
- Learn how you can make an impact locally and nationally in the anti-corruption movement
Whether you're a longtime volunteer or brand new to the movement, this is the perfect opportunity to get informed and involved in Utah.
Location: TBD
'Unbreaking America' Screening in Northwest Ohio
Organizer: RepresentUs
Everyone knows our political system is broken. Here's what most people don't know: We can fix it. Unbreaking America shows why nearly every issue we face as a nation is caught in the grip of corruption – and what we can do to stop it. At the Represent Northwest Ohio's Unbreaking America Screening, you will:
- Watch Unbreaking America, the short film starring Jennifer Lawrence, followed by a discussion about America's corruption crisis
- Connect with current RepresentUs members in the Northwest Ohio area
- Learn how you can make an impact locally and nationally in the anti-corruption movement
Whether you're a longtime volunteer or brand new to the movement, this is the perfect opportunity to get informed and involved in Ohio.
Two annual report cards out this week offer some sobering context for those who might instinctively believe that the United States is the best democracy in the world.
Low scores for U.S. government in two global scorecards
When it comes to democracy, sometimes Americans believe they not only invented the idea, they perfected it.
But two respected annual report cards out this week — one looking at democracy and the other at its anathema, governmental corruption — offer some sobering context for those who might instinctively believe that the United States is going to be naturally at the top of the heap.
The latest corruption study, by the venerable global watchdog group Transparency International, finds trust in the United States' political system at an all-time low and that government corruption has become a major concern for most Americans. The newest report on the state of global democracy by the Economist finds the United States dropping steadily in the last decade when compared with other countries.
