Unchaining the journalists
10/09/08
[donation]
By Joel Thurtell
Pretend you’re living in the United States before the Civil War.
My Obama bumper sticker. Joel Thurtell photo.
My Obama bumper sticker. Joel Thurtell photo.
You are opposed to the practice of buying, selling and owning human beings, a practice known as “chattel slavery.”
A legitimate economic practice condoned and promoted by the laws of the states and the United States.
But you are not just opposed to slavery.
You are dedicated to erasing slavery as a legal institution in this country.
You are moved to act. You want to do something that will help end this horrible practice.
But wait! You can’t do anything, despite your strong belief that slavery is immoral.
You are banned from taking any part in the abolition of slavery.
Your job precludes any kine of anti-slavery activity by you.
What kind of job would prohibit you from expressing your abhorrence for an inhuman, indeed barbaric practice?
Only one that I can think of.
You are a journalist.
And journalists must be fair and balanced.
They must not show favoritism towards any one side of a debate.
They must not take up a cause, no matter how much they believe in it.
Sound ridiculous?
Well, it is the position many American journalists take. They may be against a war, or for a political cause, but they must not take a side — that would compromise their journalistic integrity.
Sound absurd? Read the words of Professor Jane Briggs-Bunting, head of the journalism program at Michigan State University. Professor Briggs-Bunting speaks for most every if not every journalism instructor in the United States when she warns, “Reporters, we’re on duty 24-7. I can have an opinion, and my opinion will be heard in the privacy of a voting booth. You can’t publicize your political views on a T-shirt you wear, a button you wear, or a campaign sign in your front lawn. You represent your news organization 24-7.â€
My Obama t-shirt. Staff photo.
My Obama t-shirt. Staff photo.
I don’t believe this. Take a look at my car — there are Obama and ACLU bumper stickers on my little blue Civic. That Civic with its political proclamations is the chief way I get to my journalistic assignments. Why, when it’s relatively clean, I even wear an Obama t-shirt myself!
Four years ago, I donated $500 to the Michigan Democratic Party and I plan to give money to Democratic candidates, including Barack Obama, in this election. And by the way, when Free Press editors threatened to fire me if I gave to politicians again, an arbitrator told them to butt out. He literally banned the Free Press ban on contributions and told media moguls to police their CONTENT, not the journalists. But that hasn’t stopped media bosses from persecuting journalists for expressing political beliefs.
I think it’s time we got rid of the Bush White House and its warmongers. I believe that if I stand by and take no part in ousting a party that is pushing our country toward dictatorship, then I might as well be a part of the ruling elite. I might as well be one of the oppressors.
Give this some thought, journalists. If you were a reporter in Hitler’s Germany, could you justify doing nothing to stop a tyrant? What would you tell judges at Nuremberg: I did nothing because I had to hold onto my objectivity? What would you tell a higher judge?
If your answer is that you would have stood on the sidelines to preserve your neutrality, your precious J school-loving impartiality, then I will say this to you: Impartiality is a minor goal when we’re talking about tyranny. It is of no value when we’re talking about such horrendously awful institutions as slavery, genocide, judicial murder or even corruption in our local institutions.
To defend “objectivity” in the face of monstrous injustices is benighted and morally poverty-stricken.
Would you have remained neutral about slavery, stood to the side while humans were being sold like pots and pans?
If you believe it’s time to act, time to take a position, then by God, let’s get moving, get organized.
Here are some things we can do:
My ACLU bumper sticker. Joel Thurtell photo.
My ACLU bumper sticker. Joel Thurtell photo.
I have already contacted the Michigan ACLU and Amnesty International about this. You can do it, too.
Kary Moss is executive director of the Michigan ACLU. She’s at kmoss@aclumich.org.
You could also send an email to Amnesty International at http://www.amnesty.org/en/contact.
Journalists love to talk about freedom of expression and the First Amendment without thinking how shackled they are by their companies’ so-called “ethics” codes and a peer group culture of mental imprisonment promoted by journalism schools.
Let’s unchain the journalists!
Drop me a line at joelthurtell(at)gmail.com
