I know - I'm a bad blogger and I should have written about the the International Women's Media Foundation's "Courage in Journalism" panel discussion last Wednesday night after I went to them but it's midterm madness in the college world but now that I have the chance I do want to let everyone in on what the event was like!
The evening actually started out with a pretty big let-down: the IWMF announced that Jill Carroll wouldn't be attending the panel discussion. Jane Ransom, the organization's executive director, told me and a few classmates after the event that Carroll is still too traumatized to openly speak about her kidnapping yet and that she's trying to readjust to being home. Maybe one day later on I will get to hear her story, but the other three women at the event were so fascinating that it definitely made up for it.
My favorite honoree was Elena Poniatowska Amor - she was clad in traditional Mexican garb and was very candid when people asked her questions. The best line of the night was when she discussed how being a journalist is a lesson in modesty when she said, "I heard you have a wonderful journalist on the comedy channel and it's John Stewart and Colbert. To have a sense of humor and to make fun of things - especially Bush - is a healthy thing." I'm not sure if I agree that Stewart and Colbert are journalists, but to hear her put the spotlight on them when discussing modesty was hilarious.
May Chidiac, a broadcast journalist for the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, is probably the most courageous journalist of the bunch - her car was bombed because some people didn't like what she was saying about the Syrian government's intervention in Lebanon and she lost a leg and hand - but she's still on the air. "I think it was a miracle that I escaped. I was meant to be killed," she told us during the panel discussion. She said that this has happened before to journalists in her country and most of them have died. The reason Chidiac didn't shy away from the press after her attack? "I wanted to be the voice of those who are silenced, killed by the 2005 Syrian regime. I wanted to defend my country. If nobody does, Lebanon would be transformed like all Arab countries." If that's not courageous I don't know what is.
And Gao Yu, who was imprisoned in China for releasing government secrets, was able to give some great insight into freedom of the press there (even though her translator was having trouble getting the message across). Yu said that while China is trying to make it appear that they are loosening up their hold on civil rights and is sending groups of Chinese to America to learn about their media market, progress really isn't being made: "They came here to learn about press freedom and the independent spirit of the American media but they continue to let the media be the voice of the party," she said. She also said that these groups who visit America still deplore the country's civil rights policies. "When they saw the explosion of the Twin Towers, they applauded. They were deported by the U.S. government because of that."
Meeting and hearing from these women was inspiring, particularly because I hope one day to be as brave a journalist as they are. Let me know if you have any comments on what these amazing women journalists said the other night.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Yeah, that struck me too that Elena referred to Stewart and Colbert as journalists. She hasn't seen the show, so maybe she would change her mind. Still, it made me think about the definition of journalism in other countries and how it is a little more liberal. The newspapers in Europe are, for the most part, labelled according to political leaning. In spite of the obvious issues of bias there, they are still considered journalist publications. Perhaps Elena would think that the Daily Show and Colbert Report were versions of journalism after seeing them.
Post a Comment