Journalists or Citizens?

Do people that choose to be journalists for a living have to abandon all of their personal beliefs in order to keep their journalistic integrity? More importantly, is the suspension of one’s principles even possible?

Well, this “Sophie’s Choice” of a predicament is becoming a reality for a couple of journalists who have chosen to join the ranks of the Occupy Wall Street protests that have sprung up all around the country.

Lisa Simeone, who has two radio shows on NPR, helped organize the Occupy D.C. rally, but once her employer (NPR) found out they promptly fired her from her job as host of Soundprint.

Soundprint is a political show that mainly deals with climate and political issues. Her bosses at NPR decided that her involvement tainted the unbiased reporting of the radio network. She was initially allowed to keep her second show that deals with opera performances, but NPR soon canceled it.

In addition, there is the story of Caitlin E. Curran a freelance radio host of a show on a Brooklyn based NPR show. Her station, WNYC fired her because she briefly attended the Occupy Wall Street 

protests in New York.

I understand that a journalist has to be objective and I understand that a journalist needs to be nonbiased, but does a journalist also have to suspend their role as a citizen of the country they reside?

Knowing what is right and what is wrong is what makes a good investigative journalist. Therefore, it is no surprise to me that journalists want to attend these protests. The Occupy movement is happening because the income disparity in the U.S. and the world has become too big to be ignored and of course, journalists are keyed-in to this sentiment.

If journalists are being fired for lapses in their integrity for supporting the Occupy movement, then all of the other journalists working for the Mainstream Media that blindly follow the directions of their corporate owners and sponsors should also be fired with the same justification.