As I turned a year older yesterday, I was trading quips on Facebook with my former editor-in-chief at Generation magazine, blissfully unaware of the breaking story about Lara Logan's assault. When I finally heard it, I couldn't fathom why she would return to Egypt after her recent troubles there: blindfolded, detained, driver beaten. What pushed this woman, this mother, to put her life in jeapardy again for the sake of a story?
I immediately thought of Veronica Guerin, the famous Irish reporter, who was gunned down nearly one year after her story of a murdered drug kingpin brought gunfire on her house, a gunshot to her leg and threats from a convicted criminal against her son. Yet, she pushed on. Why?
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Why did our founding fathers want to protect freedom of the press?
When I was at Forbes magazine in the 1990s, I had the pleasure of working with Paul Klebnikov, who sat in his fifth floor office on 60 Fifth Avenue with books and papers piled high. I remembered him for his kindness toward a young, naive editorial assistant, a trait seldom shown in a high-pressure publishing environment.
Paul took the assignment to bring Forbes to Russia and while he was reporting on corruption there, he was shot four times in a drive-by and bled out waiting for an ambulance that took an hour to arrive. His editor Jim Michaels wrote: "You can say of Paul, without exaggeration, that he gave his life for the truth. Paul believed in his soul in the greatness of Russia. His harsh criticism of the post-Soviet kleptocracy sprang from a passion to see that greatness realized."
Before landing the job of editor of Forbes, Jim Michaels covered The assassination of Mohandas Gandhi and the riots that followed for UPI. All that risk for a double-column of text, yellowed and hanging in a crooked frame among the clutter of his office.
I became a fan of Lara Logan through her work on 60 Minutes, which recently aired a piece on Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, who remains under house arrest in the English countryside for his belief that the truth should be published, knowing full well that the cost of protecting freedom of the press is relinquishing his own.
Why do so many fear the truth getting out? Why are there spirits on this planet that push to uncover it only to be pushed back by the forces that wish to bury it?
Perhaps Lara Logan can explain in her own words that appeared in the Washington Post on July 8, 2008: "I'm not some Hollywood star," Logan says in her first interview on the subject. "It's not about a career for me. It's who I am. I do this because I believe in it."
/NOTE TO EDITORS: In researching this piece I learned of Jim Michaels' passing. He also demonstrated great kindness toward a young, naive editorial assistant many years ago. Godspeed, Mr. Michaels./
I immediately thought of Veronica Guerin, the famous Irish reporter, who was gunned down nearly one year after her story of a murdered drug kingpin brought gunfire on her house, a gunshot to her leg and threats from a convicted criminal against her son. Yet, she pushed on. Why?
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Why did our founding fathers want to protect freedom of the press?
When I was at Forbes magazine in the 1990s, I had the pleasure of working with Paul Klebnikov, who sat in his fifth floor office on 60 Fifth Avenue with books and papers piled high. I remembered him for his kindness toward a young, naive editorial assistant, a trait seldom shown in a high-pressure publishing environment.
Paul took the assignment to bring Forbes to Russia and while he was reporting on corruption there, he was shot four times in a drive-by and bled out waiting for an ambulance that took an hour to arrive. His editor Jim Michaels wrote: "You can say of Paul, without exaggeration, that he gave his life for the truth. Paul believed in his soul in the greatness of Russia. His harsh criticism of the post-Soviet kleptocracy sprang from a passion to see that greatness realized."
Before landing the job of editor of Forbes, Jim Michaels covered The assassination of Mohandas Gandhi and the riots that followed for UPI. All that risk for a double-column of text, yellowed and hanging in a crooked frame among the clutter of his office.
I became a fan of Lara Logan through her work on 60 Minutes, which recently aired a piece on Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, who remains under house arrest in the English countryside for his belief that the truth should be published, knowing full well that the cost of protecting freedom of the press is relinquishing his own.
Why do so many fear the truth getting out? Why are there spirits on this planet that push to uncover it only to be pushed back by the forces that wish to bury it?
Perhaps Lara Logan can explain in her own words that appeared in the Washington Post on July 8, 2008: "I'm not some Hollywood star," Logan says in her first interview on the subject. "It's not about a career for me. It's who I am. I do this because I believe in it."
/NOTE TO EDITORS: In researching this piece I learned of Jim Michaels' passing. He also demonstrated great kindness toward a young, naive editorial assistant many years ago. Godspeed, Mr. Michaels./
