ISSUE

Summer 2006

Journalists: On the Subject of Courage

Courage, as these journalists remind us, exposes itself in different guises. It can be found in the wisdom of understanding when danger finally has outweighed the risk. Or it can surface when threats to personal safety lurk but the lessons of training combine with inner strength to push fear aside and persevere. Courage can reside, too, in a journalist's isolation when editorial stands taken shake the foundation of friendship and sever long-held ties to one's community. In this issue, glimpses of such journalistic courage are offered.

Articles

A Quiet Courage

Journalists demonstrate this kind of courage ‘while attention is focused elsewhere.’

Self-Censorship as a Reaction to Murders By Drug Cartels

‘The message of this newsroom assault was obvious: stop messing with drug-trafficking affairs.’

Journalism’s Triumphant Journey in Nepal

‘With the royal regime’s overt intentions to muzzle the press and radio, journalists have fought back to keep autocracy at bay and the flame of freedom burning.’

Words That Made a Difference

In the summer of 2005, Li Datong, editor of Freezing Point, a popular supplement that he edited for China Youth Daily, wrote a lengthy memo to the paper’s editor in…

Dictatorship and Democracy Require Different Kinds of Courage

‘Officials begged the magazine not to pursue the story and then they enticed us with rewards. All efforts to derail our reporting failed.’

Violence in Liberia Extends to Journalists

‘The government warned that any journalist or news organization that violated the ban would be considered and treated as “rebels.”’

Murder, Threats, Fires and Intimidation in Gambia

An anonymous letter sent to a prominent journalist ‘promised to teach a lesson to journalists who persisted in their negative reporting.’

Repressive Actions Give Way to Business Realities

‘Independent newspapers and privately owned TV and radio stations lack the economies of scale necessary to become sustainable businesses.’

Climbing to Freedom Word By Word

‘… our ethical and political convictions gave us strength to resist and keep advancing.’

When Death Seems Inevitable

‘There was a problem with acceptance of death; I was never in a mood to accept torture.’

What We Share About Courage

In the working life of most American journalists, courage does not typically define what we do. Holding public officials and corporate leaders accountable, digging through files and records and challenging…

Terror Unleashed

Dare’s book was published in 2007 under the title “Guerrilla Journalism: Dispatches From the Underground”Sunday Dare has written a book, “Voices From the Trenches: The Story of Guerrilla Journalism Under…

Heroes in the Tough Transition to Digital News

A long-time newspaper journalist assesses the courage required if essential values are to be retained.

Telling a Story That No Other Newspaper Will Tell

‘If we don’t print these stories about the casino, who will? People need to see this ….’

Courage as a Story Needing to Be Told

‘Unlike love, which may be an emotion only, courage must manifest itself in action.’

Challenging a Democratic Government’s Secrecy

‘Of particular concern to journalists is the lack of support some owners of Canadian news organizations have given as they've tried to contest these policies.’

Burmese Reporters in Exile Confront Different Risks

Power shortages and blackouts are nothing new in Burma. Nor are news blackouts. In early February, authorities detected bird flu in Sagaing and Mandalay divisions but the news didn’t appear…

What We Learned About the Courage of Women Journalists

It was 16 years ago when a group of American women journalists convened the first international conference exclusively for women journalists. Held in Washington, D.C., this gathering evolved, as it…

Western Correspondents Display Cold War Courage

‘I walked and cried. Death seemed a great relief but so difficult to find .... If only the interrogator would call me. I would admit anything.’

Trauma Lingers After Escaping the Danger

‘My whole world felt wounded during my first months in the United States: I could not sleep and, when I did, it seemed only to dream weird things.’

Threats Come at Journalists in Pakistan From All Sides

Despite gains in press freedom, news organizations and reporters engage in self-censorship as a strategy to protect themselves and their business.

A War Reporter Tries to Understand What Courage Is

‘Thinking about courage becomes a reflection on humanity.’

The Courage of Journalists in the Middle East

‘Acting with integrity means honestly probing the causes of the many problems and tensions that define the modern Middle East …’

Teamwork Replaces Ego on the Frontlines of War

‘Reckless correspondents endanger not just themselves but everyone in the close-knit teams that operate in Iraq.’

Seeking Support for News Media Safety From the United Nations

INSI has joined the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Broadcasting Union in pushing for a United Nations Security Council resolution on news media safety. This move was…

A Distinction Journalists Like to Ignore

‘Journalists, both then and now, too readily allow fears of a public backlash to inhibit their actions.’

Persevering Despite the Dangers

El Tiempo’s investigative editor ‘has become accustomed to receiving floral arrangements and notes sent to regret her death, a form of indirect death threats.’

Conscience and Integrity in Journalism

The Louis M. Lyons Award, given by Nieman classes, recognizes journalists who display these elements of moral courage.

When Corporate Managers Nudge News Decisions

The clash of cultures ‘affects editors’ and reporters’ ability to investigate stories and break new ones.’

Covering the Sago Mine Disaster

How a game of ‘whisper down the coal mine’ ricocheted around the world.

International News Safety Institute:

International News Safety Institute (INSI) is a nonprofit organization comprised of journalists working on behalf of other journalists. As such, it requires the support of concerned journalists and news organizations…

The Road Traveled From Journalism to Jail

‘What is absent in journalism is not courage but consciousness and compassion.’

Government Clampdowns on Newspapers Send Reporting Online

In Belarus, with many people not able to use their computers to read about what is happening, ‘Online is not yet a worthy substitute for newspapers.’

Death Threats Are Sent to Try to Stop Reporting

‘If I kept writing, I thought, the threats would eventually stop because they weren't working.’

Risking Relationships as a Measure of Courage

‘Questioning the reasons for the war meant not only going against the President's policy but against the beliefs of many people I knew and respected.’

Courage Can Mean Pushing Gradually Against Boundaries in Iran

‘Courage is not always about overcoming immediate dangers or reaching immediate ends.’

The Embrace of Principled Stands

During the civil rights era, a few newspaper owners, editors and reporters risked their lives and livelihoods by supporting Supreme Court rulings and desegregation.

Seeking Journalistic Courage in Washington, D.C.

‘The disturbing trend is that more and more of these informational offerings are nothing but PR peddled as “news.”’

Investigative Journalism Doesn’t Win Many Friends

‘… just about everything has been tried to discourage these kinds of investigations by those who are unhappy with what we find.’

Courage of the Wise and Patient Kind

‘Our craft demands such courage if we are to find a constructive way through the many difficulties that challenge us today.’

Public Support Wanes, Some Journalists

‘Despite the low esteem in which the news media are held today, some of the best, most courageous news coverage is being produced.’

H.L. Mencken: Courage in a Time of Lynching

Subscriptions were cancelled, threats made on him and Sunpapers’ staff, and advertisers’ products were boycotted, but Mencken's words were published.

The Forces Threatening Journalism

‘The challenges facing news professionals — and threatening journalism in the public interest — are significant and cannot be avoided.’

Summer 2006: Introduction

Courage, as these journalists remind us, exposes itself in different guises. It can be found in the wisdom of understanding when danger finally has outweighed the risk. Or it can…

When Risks Make a Story Too Dangerous to Tell

On January 26, 2006, a few days after freelance reporter Jill Carroll was kidnapped in Iraq, Los Angeles Times correspondent Alissa J. Rubin wrote a Page One story entitled, “Abduction…

When a Journalist’s Voice Is Silenced

In using the Internet to share his views, Li Datong is ‘breaking the wishes of authorities who would prefer he did not speak to the foreign press.’

Two Sides of Courage

‘Only after I left the foreign battlefields and returned to the United States did I discover the quiet part of courage in what it is I try to do.’

Courage: What Network News Needs Now

‘Network news spent decades establishing its solid credentials. Now is no time for it to lose its nerve.’

A Local Newspaper Endures a Stormy Backlash

‘We had the opportunity to tell the story of powerless people who'd been hurt by powerful people who counted on the public never learning what they'd done.’

Editorial Pages: Why Courage Is Hard to Find

The Star Tribune published strong editorials about Bush administration truth telling when few other papers did, and an editor there explores some reasons why.

The Difficult Isolation Courage Can Bring

Newspaper boycotts forced ‘the need for courage beyond the physical ….’

The Muslim Cartoon Controversy Exposed an Absence of Courage

‘… the continuing timidity of the American media looked increasingly like cowardice, appeasement, or better-you-than-me cynicism.’

The Center for Public Integrity: What It Is

From its founding in 1989 to the end of 2004, when I stepped down as its director, the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity grew to a full-time staff of 40…

Transforming Anger at Journalists’ Deaths Into Action

The International News Safety Institute provides training and support for journalists whose work puts them in danger.

The Survival Mode of Reporting From a War Zone

‘Our generation is more vocal about trauma we experience than others have been. It can't be avoided when you see this much violence and senseless death.’

When Bearing Witness Overrides a Reporter’s Fear

‘… courage is not me, a clunky reporter clutching a notebook and treading on people’s lives, trying to get them to open up their souls.’

Witnessing War to Send Its Images Home

‘What of our colleagues who have trauma engraved on their psyches?’

War Teaches Lessons About Fear and Courage

‘In war zones, I would learn about another feeling, one I have yet to define but seems the opposite of fear ….’

Assessing the Risks Reporters in Iraq Confront

‘I don’t believe in the journalist as a hero.’

Going to Tell What Others Have Forgotten

A war correspondent seeks out people who live in dangerous war zones to tell their stories and finds that ‘by sharing the fear it helps a lot.’

Courage Emerges From the Work Journalists Do

‘… journalists’ courage needs a source, and so far I have recognized three such sources: insanity, lack of any clue, ideals.’

A Difficult Journey From Repression to Democracy

Brave journalists who challenge authoritarian regimes often ‘enter a postauthoritarian era full of compromises and new repressions.’

Truth in the Crossfire

In a brutal attack, ‘my truth … was dealt a mortal wound.’