Faith in journalism
Publishing and reading literature in America is a luxury. The vast majority of it is produced and consumed by people certain in their safety, with adventurous travel writers perhaps being the only consistent exception. Writing literature is a leisure-activity and a priviledge.
American journalism is different. It is written and produced by people under enormous pressures from their colleagues, financial backers, and governments at home and abroad.
The fate of freelance journalist Jill Carroll at this hour is unknown. Her captors in Iraq have been silent since threatening to kill Carroll two days ago if all female Iraqi prisoners were not released.
Carroll by all reports was a journalistic true-believer. She insisted on interviewing everyday Iraqis in the neighborhoods of Baghdad, which meant placing herself in extraordinary danger, simply to tell a story.
The finest people you’ll ever meet are those with faith. While Carroll is a stranger to all of us, her faith is familiar. It’s the faith that your actions—like it getting a story—can help others, even if it means sacrificing your own safety or peace of mind.
Beyond prayer, we may often feel helpless in hostage situations. Jill Carroll’s friends are mobilized, as are influential clerics in Iraq. But if you’d like to do more to make journalists safer while they do their jobs, please support the Committee to Protect Journalists. Donate today.
If you would like to learn more about the physical and emotional sacrifices wartime journalists willingly make, I highly recommend the following books:
