Often times in corny interviews being produced for fluff content, the question "Which person, alive or dead, would you most like to have dinner with?" While this question does not often come with an interesting response, George Seldes fits the bill as someone that would have an amazing hour long conversation.
The word "fearless" is throw around quite often when referring to journalists, but the true meaning of fearless journalism is recognizing the consequences, going through with it, while being respectful. As noted in the article published shortly after his death, "Seldes offended dictators and demagogues, press moguls and industrialists," through his work. He may not have been liked by all that he worked with, but it can be said that his work was fair and just.
With Seldes, the fear of losing a source did not seem to resonate with him, as some of the material he posted would lose his sources, such as his work on fascism. I would not have the same level of fearlessness as Seldes. A primary concern of mine that I constantly try to eliminate is publishing stories that benefit my sources too much; I want to make them happy and that is not proper journalism.
Seldes deserves the praise that he receives, because he is a true journalist in that he eliminates biases and reports the absolute truth, no matter the toll.
No comments:
Post a Comment