Comments on: Deadly news

By: Shiloh

Shiloh — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 13:38:56 +0000

I know journalists are brave and courageous, but seriously, havn’t we had enough of the violence? Its time to bring our brave young men and women journalists home from Iraq. Please do not question my patriotism because I do indeed support our journalists (while I don’t support their mission.) Its just that they’re in a quagmire over there and after four years, its time that we admitted that we have lost and can no longer get any news from Iraq.

By: Colin Brayton

Colin Brayton — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 20:16:26 +0000

I appreciate that you span the difference between whether “media workers” are to be counted as “journalists” or not, and clarify where your personal commitment lies. I was dumbfounded to see an NY Times headline on this subject making the distinction. Why should the paper’s collective bargaining positions enter into its news reporting? Let us call these people what they were — for my money they were “journalists,” too, but you also are quite right: They were dedicated human beings doing all of us a precious service.

By: armstrongfl or E.F.Effe

armstrongfl or E.F.Effe — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 06:46:05 +0000

It is a hard job indeed. As it has been called-the fourth power- it became of essential importance in society. And all of us, readers, nead to keep information free and updated.

By: Joseph Raglione

Joseph Raglione — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 01:51:26 +0000

Hello David Schlesinger:

On behalf of all the unheralded journalists who work quietly and dangerously outside the realm of the mainstream corporation, and who are often unpaid volunteers risking their lives working for the common good…I want to thank you for your kind thoughts.
Joseph Raglione. Ex/Dir: The World Humanitarian Peace and Ecology Movement…affiliated with GreenPeace, The Sierra Club, the WWF, and many many more. P.S. How many trees will you plant this spring?

By: John C Abell

John C Abell — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:19:40 +0000

Reuters has about 2,300 journalists. I used to be one of them. I say this with considerable reservation because I never faced any hardship (apart from long hours on a campaign bus), any deprivation (save for being late to the hospitality table) and I certainly never had a closer encounter with death than by crossing a Boston street against the light.

I always very proudly identified myself as a Reuters journalist, and even when my career took me to the peripheries of the craft I remained in editorial, feeling very superior indeed, basking in the glow of those who actually did carry the torch.

The truth is that I felt guilty being identified with real journalists: the ones who got to work in a war zone because their homes were suddenly in a war zone; the ones who could bid their families goodbye every day knowing somewhere inside that this may be the last farewell; the ones assisting a foreign news organization knowing this could be held against them and their families in a most serious way; the ones for whom hardship meant cold, heat, hunger, thirst, injury, weariness. All this, and toiling in obscurity too.

There is a great deal of chatter about the lofty philosophical topics of journalism today, about the overwhelming influence technology will once again have on the business, about the financial pressures facing mainstream publishers, about the relationship between writer and reader and where the line is drawn.

So it is good to be reminded, at least once a year, of the people who make all of this possible. I am gratified that my old haunt takes this as seriously as it does, facing down as best it can what often seems like military indifference, for all the good that seems to do. I am heartbroken for the loved ones of those who did not make it to 2007 and appreciative of all who — quite irrationally — put their sense of responsibility ahead of everything else.

I was never worthy to be in this crowd, and I remain humbled.