Some people accused me of being pro-Muslim in Bosnia, but I realised that our job is to give all sides an equal hearing, but in cases of genocide you can't just be neutral. You can't just say, 'Well, this little boy was shot in the head and killed in besieged Sarajevo and that guy over there did it, but maybe he was upset because he had an argument with his wife.' No, there is no equality there, and we had to tell the truth.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of truth and justice over neutrality in reporting, especially in cases of human rights violations.
Christiane Amanpour highlights the ethical responsibility of journalists to present the truth, particularly in situations of grave injustice like genocide. She argues that neutrality can be morally unacceptable when one side is committing atrocities, and it is vital to convey the reality of suffering and injustice rather than simply providing equal weight to all perspectives. This stance underscores the obligation to stand against evil where it occurs, instead of maintaining a false balance.
In practice
This quote can be used in discussions about media ethics at a journalism conference.
I leave CNN with the utmost respect, love and admiration for the company and everyone who works here. This has been my family and shared endeavor for the past 27 years, and I am forever grateful and proud of all that we have accomplished.
And one thing that I always believed and that I knew for certain was that I could never have sustained a personal relationship while I worked this hard, or while I was that driven this intensely by the story.
In emerging democracies like Russia, in authoritarian states like Iran or even Yugoslavia, journalists play a vital role in civil society. In fact, they form the very basis of those new democracies and civil societies.
In Iran the whole reform and democracy movement has been based on the emerging free press.
We were thrilled and we were privileged to be part of a revolution, because make no mistake about it, Ted Turner changed the world with CNN.
Because if we the storytellers don't do this, then the bad people will win.
Occasionally God rips aside the veil, and you begin to see this very fact: All things happen for you. All things. Everything is knit together.
People who don't see their nature and imagine they can practice thoughtlessness all the time are lairs and fools.
It is the business of future to be dangerous.... The major advances in civilization are processes that all but wreck the societies in which they occur.
Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism.
You say that you are just a body, but inside of you is something greater than the Universe.
A sense of the universe, a sense of the all, the nostalgia which seizes us when confronted by nature, beauty, music - these seem to be an expectation and awareness of a Great Presence.
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