Read This: Here’s how Spotlight won best picture
If you’re wondering how Spotlight won best picture, a new article in the Los Angeles Times can shed some light on the mysterious voting process.
Turns out there are two reason’s for the movie’s big win. The first is timely headlines; a week before the start of the Oscar voting period, a Times correspondent wrote that the movie had been screened for the Vatican commission on clerical sex abuse. The Vatican-related coverage almost certainly gave Spotlight a boost in the minds of Oscar voters.
The other reason for Spotlight’s win is procedural; the Oscars use a preferential ballot, which rewards consensus favorites. Voters rank the nominated movies in order of preference, with number one as the most favorite. As the article notes: