What I’m Reading
December 12, 2019
Today’s What I’m Reading post again features three stories. We have two global news stories and a controversial student protest in the U.S. that leaves us with questions about press freedom.
The last few posts have been rather heavy on recommendations from The New York Times. I’ll do my best to select from a more diverse pool in the future, but all the findings lately stem from several big catch-up reading sessions of the Times with a few external goodies sprinkled in.
Afghanistan Beyond the Conflicts
Let’s train our eyes on Afghanistan for this first story. A profile of an old poet, who found refuge from war in a library. It’s a very interesting look at Afghanistan that goes deeper than the conflicts. It’s a read that guides us to a different Afghanistan. Leaving the outside world behind, writer Mujib Mashal shows us the richness of Afghan culture. With the poet/librarian as one face of the country, we’re invited to learn about the country’s literature, art, philosophy. We can see the way of life in a region of chronic conflict. We see that there is much more than conflict.
I’m generally interested in the whole region and grab chances to read up and grow a better understanding of the history that has led us to the present-day issues, how it all works and connects. Stories like this one are a particularly important find. They offer valuable little pieces to a better understanding and a more complete knowledge of the issues we see in the headline news.
The Meaning of Empathy
Today’s second story takes on the issue of press freedom, or personal freedom rights if you look at it from the other side. When Jeff Sessions, former Attorney General, spoke at Northwestern University, his visit was accompanied by protest. A protestor got pushed to the ground. A student photojournalist captured it. The picture got published. The student in the picture complained about being photographed, calling it “trauma porn,” asking for a more “sensitive approach,” and better journalistic norms. In similar occurrences, people advocated for more empathy.
The question I’m asking here is what does empathy really mean?
Empathy is a vital element of good journalism. It’s important to show that you truly care, that you want to learn, that you act with respect toward the people you’re working with, every step of the way. Be a human being first, a journalist second.
But not documenting protests thoroughly is not empathy. Asking for permission first wouldn’t exactly work in a scenario like this one. Where does it lead us if we accept growing signs of pushbacks against the reporting of protests based on privacy claims? What should change? How could journalism change without losing its ability to document?
Activism and protests are fine and important, but media coverage of those activities is also fine and also important. The journalistic aim is to thoroughly and accurately document the protest — with empathy. It’s not necessarily journalism’s role to make protestors happy. So, where should journalistic empathy end? How could the relationship between journalists and the public be improved? Comments welcome.
Hong Kong Protests in Pictures
And this final story, about the protests in Hong Kong, shows exactly why journalism needs to be there, in the midst of protests. Stories like this one are vitally important. It’s at the heart of journalism and what its function is. There are remarkable pictures and detail here that show the world what is happening on the ground.
The journalism produced there — on a daily basis and with a great deal of empathy — helps. It informs people globally about what is happening, what the protests are doing to an entire city, to the people who used to live normal lives. It helps to spread the message, helps to put pressure on those in power, and might play its tiny role in bringing change one day.
Only with empathy, a great deal of care and respect for the people Lam Yik Fei photographs and is surrounded by in the streets of Hong Kong, can he produce the powerful pictures published continuously.
So much for this week’s What I’m Reading posts. I’ll try to bring another post like this one before Christmas. Also in the making: the remaining photo essays from the first two chapters of Family Journeys. Until then, happy reading.
