When I was trained as a journalist, as a race-relations reporter in Nashville covering the end of the civil-rights movement, we were strictly forbidden to use the first-person pronoun. There was kind of an electric charge around it. To come out from hiding and use the word 'I' carried a lot of fright for me.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the challenges of expressing personal identity in a profession that values objectivity.
Lawrence Wright shares his experience as a journalist during a pivotal moment in the civil-rights movement. He emphasizes the strict adherence to objectivity that was expected of him, which made the use of the first-person pronoun 'I' feel daunting. This fear signifies the conflict between personal expression and journalistic neutrality, highlighting the inherent tension in conveying one's voice amid significant social change.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the evolution of journalistic practices in conflict situations.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. and coalition partners stands as one of the greatest blunders in American history. The Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, rose out of the the chaos, throwing the region into turmoil that hasn't been equaled since the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
Hubbard set up the Church of Scientology in Hollywood in 1954 for a reason. He understood that celebrity was increasingly a feature of American public life, and celebrities themselves were going to be worshiped as minor deities were in the ancient world. The idea was: if you could get them, think how many people would follow.
Give news a little more time, and don't request that they also, in their news time, entertain. We're not entertainers. We're journalists. And we need more time to do our job well.
I don't believe in these headline-hunting interviews. That's just not my style.
I feel no compulsion to be a pundit. As a matter of fact, I really don't have that much to say about most things. Working with hard news satisfies me completely.
In campaign reporting more than any other kind of press coverage, reporters aren't just covering a story, they're a part of it - influencing outcomes, setting expectations, framing candidates - and despite what they tell themselves, it's impossible to both be a part of the action and report on it objectively.
We all have our likes and our dislikes. But... when we're doing news - when we're doing the front-page news, not the back page, not the op-ed pages, but when we're doing the daily news, covering politics - it is our duty to be sure that we do not permit our prejudices to show. That is simply basic journalism.
The biggest problem I have in journalism is being quoted or misquoted and then being asked to defend something I haven't said.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.