Iranian of the Day

Good Night & Good Luck-Edward R. Murrow's speech on Journalism

A riveting speech given by David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow from the George Clooney film, 'Good Night, And Good Luck’ :

Video Here

Related Blog:

In Tribute to Siamak Pourzand Honorary Member of PEN American Center ( see dedicated Page of Late Journalist)

UN CERTAIN REGARD: In tribute To Siamak Pourzand (1930-2011)

Journalists Should be Awarded based on Merit Not Predicament

]Don't get me wrong I am all for honoring Journalists who are in difficulty and this Award in particular was created to that purpose given that it was named after a Journalist who was killed and therefore as an award it aims at promoting the Freedom of Expression.

As such the recipient of such an award is in a way protected in his predicament or at least acknowledged by the entire profession and I fully understand the significance that such an award has in putting a face on an otherwise anonymous name.

But does that make a Journalist reliable for that matter ? There are so many War Correspondents, investigative journalists who truly take great risks to inform us cowards on what is taking place in the world but who hardly ever get any acknowledgment unless killed:

Libya crisis: Journalists die in Misrata attack (bbc)

But who makes a Big Deal about it ? Definitively not us news consumers thirsty for information.

We forget and move on and get distracted by some Royal Wedding or happy event until some other dramatic event draws our attention.

For instance I have been reading some of Roxanna Saberi's articles since she was set free notably an interview she did with Shirin Ebadi recently and couldn't help but see how amateurish it was. Avoiding touch questions just to interview the Saintly Nobel Peace Laureate in an article which was nothing short of blind synchophancy:

Ebadi: Vote for those who respect human rights - CNN

Now don't you dare even mention conflict of Interest in your criticism of her journalistic approach all the more that Ebadi had accepted to defend her during her imprisonment ... 

So where is the unbiased objectivity a Journalist should display ?

Just because she is pretty, exotic ( half Japanese) and a girlfriend of filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi and was arrested for a few months does that make her a good Journalist for that matter ?

Freed Journalist Saberi Honored With Medal

But who remembers French Iranian Delphine Minoui ( Albert Londre Laureate) who has been covering at great risks the events in Libya, reporting directly from Tripoli under the bombs ?:

Delphine Minoui MiddleEast North African Blog on Libya ( Le Figaro)

Photo of Minoui Interviewing Gaddafi recently

This is also true for other Professions like Filmmaking:

Asghar Farhadi Triumphs As An Artist But Fails As A Citizen

If pity has to be the only reason someone get's awarded then I don't see the Point.

Obviously if an award can help save someone's life I for one will applaud with both hands and feet for what it is worth. But if once liberated the Award becomes a pretext for the Journalist or Artist to be offered a platform to promote any crap ( Like Reforming the IRI for instance ... LOL) just to get noticed then I think one should seriously question the credibility of the recipients of such awards. This is in no way an assessment on the current recipient of this award nor on his journalistic credits or merits for I have never ever even read any of his articles.

But I believe the Question deserves to be asked regardless of whether or not the purpose of such as award is justified or not.

Anyway Congrats to Ahmad Zeidabadi and hope that this honor will contribute to his liberation and draw necessary attention on his predicament.

My Humble Amateurish Opinion,

DK

Related Blog:

WHO'S THE EXPERT? John Simpson Proves Barbara Slavin Wrong on Libya

Hillary Clinton

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygpQRUsK8Uc&feature=player_embedded