The Choice
Simran, a SUSI student from India, shares her through-provoking reflections about her chosen career in journalism.
Over the next month, students from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are in Seattle for a new program coordinated by FIUTS, the Study of the U.S. Institute for Student Leaders in Journalism and New Media (SUSI). Each student will be writing a blog post about the experience. Here's a post by Simran Bhui from India about her time in Seattle so far:
Since the time the SUSI program has begun, my days have been filled with engaging lectures, amazing activities and enriching site vists. Each lecture, each activity and each site visit has gotten me thinking about things. We have been encouraged - encouraged to question, encouraged to think and encouraged to have fun.
Photos by Saif Mohammad
Our visit to the Seattle Times was perhaps one of the most important experiences till date. It made me question what kind of a journalist I want to be. It made me question what kind of journalists the world needs.
A journalist's job is not easy. The constant search for stories, the deadlines, the art of cultivating sources, and then ensuring their safety, the struggle to maintain a balance between one's work life and personal life are just a few of the things that make journalism one of the most challenging professions of this age.
One of the most daunting, yet interesting part of being a journalist is the struggle to make choices - probably hundreds of them each day. Among the many number of choices that a reporter makes, the toughest one is perhaps this:
"Do I choose to be a human being first or a journalist?"
The history of journalism is rampant with instances where a reporter has had to make this choice. When faced with heart-wrenching cases of human misery and suffering, what should a reporter do? Should s/he step in and help? It may meddle with the story, affect the outcome and threaten the publication of the story, but it will certainly change a life. Or, should s/he stand back and let the events unfold as they may? After all, a journalist reports what is, as is, while maintaing a distance that ensures the presence of an objective outlook. How does a journalist make that choice?
A few years back, a reporter covered a story showcasing the painfully shocking and disturbing practice of human sacrifice in a remote village in India. Capturing the entire ordeal on tape, he narrated the horrifying tale of the annual practice. This particular incident sparked a heated debate on the matter of choice.
One group of people believe that he could have and should have stepped in and taken steps to stop the sacrifice from happening. There was, afterall, a life at stake. Should journalists detach themselves from their stories to such a high degree that they can stand and witness murder? Does it not then make them an accessory to murder? There had to be a way to report the incident without letting the sacrifice happen. There had to be a way to report the incident and save a life at the same time.
The second group of people support his actions. Had he not recorded the event on tape, there would not have been a huge hue and cry against the practice. The government wouldn't have taken necessary steps to ensure that the annual tradition never happened again, had he not decided to stand back and do his job. Did he not save hundreds and thousands of lives by making that choice? Wasn't it a wise choice? People respond better to images. People connect better to images. Thus, there was no option but to report, and to hold a mirror in front of the society.
Kevin Carter's Pultizer winning piece of photojournalism can be analysed along the same lines. Was the Pulitzer worth the cost of a life? Isn't humanity more important than journalism? When does a reporter need to decide to shed his garments of objectivity and step in?
The choice - the moment where a reporter decides what defines her/him. Is he a human being first, and then a journalist or vice-versa?
The choice - the toughest part of being a journalist. Is the sacrifice of one at the cost of saving many worth it?
It is all about the choice.
What kind of a journalist do I want to be? Do I want to dedicate myself to journalism so wholly that it becomes engraved in every cell of my being? Or do I choose to be a journalist grounded in my sense of humanity?
It all comes down to why I chose journalism in the first place. I want to become a journalist to make a change. I want to become a journalist to change lives, to bring smiles and to bring people closer. I value relationships. I value life. I value values.
"Do I choose to be a human being first or a journalist?"
Perspective. It has never been this clear before. I choose to be a journalist, but with a human eye. I choose to be a journalist, but with a helping hand. I choose to be a journalist, but value life.
The Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, promote a better understanding of the people, institutions, and culture of the United States among foreign students, teachers, and scholars. Study of the U.S. Institutes are short-term academic programs for groups of undergraduate leaders, educators, and scholars from around the world.
The program in Seattle is coordinated by the Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS), a local non-profit organization affiliated with the University of Washington that promotes international friendship and cross-cultural understanding in the region. The Seattle Globalist, a daily publication covering the connections between Seattle and the rest of the globe, is collaborating with FIUTS to deliver courses on topics in journalism and new media.