Barbara Ortutay Ortutay is a former news
editor and current editor in chief of Tenpercent. E-mail her at
bortutay@media.ucla.edu.
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In a world where “media” has all but become a dirty
word, it is easy to forget the original purpose of journalism: the
pursuit of truth at all costs. Daniel Pearl died in search of the
truth, as did at least 8 other reporters before he did during this
“war on terrorism:”
Johanne Sutton, Pierre Billaud and Volker Handloik (from France,
Luxemburg and Germany, respectively), were traveling with Northern
Alliance soldiers Nov. 11 when Taliban forces opened fire on their
vehicle. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an
international organization designed to defend freedom of the press,
at least two of them did not die in the crossfire, but were later
executed. Three other journalists survived to tell the story.
Azizullah Haidari, Harry Burton, Julio Fuentes and Maria Grazia
Cutuli (from Afghanistan, Australia, Spain and Italy), were killed
Nov. 19 about 55 miles east of Kabul, according to the CPJ. Gunmen
dragged the four journalists out of the car, marched them into
nearby hills and executed them. Their bodies were found the
following morning.
Ulf Strömberg, (from Sweden), was shot and killed Nov. 26
in Taloqan, Afghanistan, during a robbery at the house in which he
was staying.
As with any job that takes people to a war zone, there are
inherent dangers in being a foreign correspondent. Unarmed and
often in the middle of conflict, many journalists risk life and
limb to “get the story.” And most of them (except
perhaps Geraldo Rivera, who quit his job as talk show host to
become a foreign correspondent for the Fox News Channel, only to
have it turn out that he was hundreds of miles from the
“hallowed ground” he so tearfully pretended to stand
next to) don’t do this for high pay, personal gratification
or fame.
Like the soldiers, relief workers and doctors who are part of
every war, journalists also put their lives on the line for what
they see as the pursuit of truth and justice.
But ask any journalist reporting from an area of conflict, and
they will tell you it’s nothing special. It’s all part
of the job, and if they don’t do it, who will? It’s a
job that must be done, because without freedom of the press there
can be no freedom at all.
Thus, covering a war does not mean going to a Pentagon briefing,
nor does it mean hailing the heroic deeds of “our”
soldiers. It means listening to all those involved and leaving
blind patriotism behind; it means giving a voice to those left out
of the debate, including not only Afghan refugees and burqua-clad
women, but also terrorists.
“Why give voice to the terrorists?” one may ask.
Because, as every reporter-to-be learns in reporting grade school,
there is more than one side to every story. After all, this is a
war on terrorism. “Terrorists” are always the other,
the enemy, the ones fighting the illegitimate war. They are
“evil” (a word so often tossed around by our president
these days), and dialogue with them is seen as impossible. But is
there really just one perspective to every story, every war? Or is
it possible to listen to the other side and get the whole
story?
If there are those who die for the truth, those of us who remain
owe it ““ to their legacy and to ourselves ““ to continue
fighting for it. Finding the truth means listening to all sides of
the story, then going out to get what’s still missing. Pearl,
in a New York Times account, was described as a
“reporter’s reporter;” on the phone with source
after source right up to deadline because, as his former editor
Lewis Cuyler told the Times, “there were so many dimensions
of the story he was curious about.”
In all the talk about the failures of “the media,”
it is journalists ““ and journalism ““ that often gets
forgotten. Media mergers, as well as the recent court of appeals
ruling that made it even easier for cable and other companies to
consolidate, have raised growing concerns about just where media is
going. Entertainment, advertisement and information are becoming
more and more difficult to distinguish, and sometimes so is news
and propaganda.
But in the middle of all the business and politics, it is people
like Daniel Pearl who carry on the legacy of what journalism is
about: the search for the truth in a world with more than one
answer.