In just one year in Bosnia, thirty of my colleagues died. There is a little Somme waiting for all innocent journalists.
Robert FiskRead
U.S. journalists I don't think are very courageous. They tend to go along with the government's policy domestically and internationally. To question is seen as being unpatriotic, or potentially subversive.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques U.S. journalists for their lack of courage in questioning government policies, which is often viewed negatively.
Robert Fisk's quote highlights the tendency of U.S. journalists to align with government policies rather than challenge them. This conformity, driven by fear of being labeled unpatriotic or subversive, undermines journalistic integrity and the essential role of the press in holding power accountable. Fisk calls out this dynamic as a lack of courage within the journalism profession.
Themes
JournalismCourageGovernmentPatriotismIntegrity
In practice
Example use cases
During a journalism symposium to discuss the state of the media.
More from Robert Fisk
All quotes βThe [Israelis] believed - they were possessed of an absolute certainty and conviction - that 'terrorists' were in Chatila. How could I explain to them that the terrorists had left, that the terrorists had worn Israeli uniforms, that the terrorists had been sent into Chatila by Israeli officers, that the victims of the terrorists were not Israelis but Palestinians and Lebanese?
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The biggest problem I have in journalism is being quoted or misquoted and then being asked to defend something I haven't said.
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There is nothing so satisfying as to be shot at without effect.
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After the allied victory of 1918, at the end of my father's war, the victors divided up the lands of their former enemies. In the space of just seventeen months, they created the borders of Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia and most of the Middle East. And I have spent my entire career β in Belfast and Sarajevo, in Beirut and Baghdad β watching the people within those borders burn.
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