Death here!
Fire there!
Where?
Asks the Journalist
A treacherous job this one; "Your work is to inform, educate and strive to abolish ignorance" as we are taught. Constantly being reminded to detach ourselves from the stories we write about.
But I assure you, there is no such thing as actual objectivity!
Any story anyone decides to write on, would always be influenced, by; someone, something, culture, personal beliefs or values.
Mr. Editor Sir, how I'm I to write an objective story on a 'retrogressive' cultural norm in my culture, if I support it? Surely, there would be a lot of editorialising in my part.
As a journalist, I see a lot of tragedy. I cannot save everyone, my work extends only as far as to make their story known. We are trained to tell, not to feel. BUT, in my experience, so far, only the strong hearted can become great journalists.
A number of Buddhist monks immolated themselves in protest of the discriminatory treatment endured by Buddhists under the Roman Catholic administration of President Ngô Đình Diệm in South Vietnam.Malcolm Wilde Browne (born 1933) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and photographer. His best known work is the award-winning photograph of the self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức in 1963 (Alongside).
With such stories, journalists are criticised for not having offered the person another way of protesting. According to my professor, "Journalists are the most sadistic persons you'll meet." With this story, he said, "The journalist would carry an extra box of matches for the monk, should his (the monk's) fail!"
Another story, is Kevin Carter's (13 September 1960 – 27 July 1994) he was also a Pulitzer Prize winner South African photojournalist and member of the Bang-Bang Club. Kevin was the first to photograph a public execution by "necklacing" in South Africa in the mid-1980s. The victim was Maki Skosana, who had been accused of having a relationship with a police officer.
In March 1993, while on a trip to Sudan, Carter reported to taking the picture alongside, because it was his "job title", and leaving. He came under criticism for failing to help the girl.
On 27 July 1994 Carter died of carbon monoxide poisoning, aged 33. A portions of Carter's suicide note read:
"... I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain ... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners..."
The world had already moved on to another catastrophe, but Kevin was still with the thousands in Sudan.
Malcolm, is an example of the strong journalist, even after this picture won him the Pulitzer prize, he went on with his life and got other awards. But, he is among the few. Many, are like Kevin, they feel and often, messes their heads. There are some human tragedies that are too emotionally taxing and robbing.
Kevin spoke of the apartheid images; "I was appalled at what they were doing. I was appalled at what I was doing. But then people started talking about those pictures... then I felt that maybe my actions hadn't been at all bad. Being a witness to something this horrible wasn't necessarily such a bad thing to do."
Links:
1. Kevin Carter's life and death story
2. Movie details based on Kevin Carter's Death
