No seas neutral
Amo ser periodista.
Es la única profesión en el mundo que tiene como descripción el ser rebelde e
irreverente. Es decir, el periodismo te obliga a ser joven toda tu vida.
El escritor
colombiano Gabriel García Márquez tenía razón: es el mejor oficio del mundo.
Pero podemos y debemos usar el periodismo como un arma para un mejor propósito:
la justicia social.
Lo mejor del
periodismo se da cuando nos atrevemos a tomar postura, cuando cuestionamos a
los que están en el poder y evitamos que abusen de su autoridad, cuando
denunciamos una injusticia.
Lo mejor del
periodismo ocurre cuando tomamos partido con las víctimas, con los más
vulnerables, con los que no tienen derechos. Frente al abuso del poder, el
periodismo tiene que ser contrapoder.
Creo en los
principios básicos del periodismo. No tengo nada en contra de la objetividad y
el balance. Eso tiene que ser como un reflejo: ser obsesivo con los datos y
presentar todos los puntos de vista.
Sin embargo, eso no
es suficiente para contar toda la verdad.
Frente a los
poderosos, debemos tomar partido. Si tenemos que escoger entre ser amigo o
enemigo del Presidente, del político, del General o del dictador, la decisión
es muy sencilla: soy reportero, no quiero ser tu amigo.
Cuando me toca hacer
una entrevista con alguien importante, siempre doy por hecho dos cosas: una,
que si yo no le hago las preguntas duras e incómodas nadie más lo va a hacer; y
dos, asumo que nunca más volveré a ver y a entrevistar a esa persona.
Las peores
entrevistas que me ha tocado ver son cuando el periodista trata de quedar bien
y hace preguntas flojas para mantener su acceso a sus fuentes. Eso es autocensura.
Estoy a favor del
periodismo con un punto de vista. Se vale tomar una posición antagónica antes
de una entrevista o reportaje. Ésa es una decisión moral.
Es perfectamente
válido el no ser neutral. Nuestro oficio no se da en un vacío. Tenemos opiniones
y códigos de ética -por la democracia, por la libertad, por la pluralidad- y
eso debe estar reflejado en nuestro trabajo.
Hay grandes ejemplos
de valientes periodistas que decidieron no ser neutrales y enfrentaron al
poder. Edward R. Murrow luchó contra el prejuiciado Senador Joe McCarthy;
Walter Cronkite contra la Guerra de Vietnam, y los reporteros del
Washington Post en
contra del corrupto Presidente Richard Nixon.
Christiane Amanpour
se peleó con el Presidente Bill Clinton por su cambiante posición en la guerra
en Bosnia, y Anderson Cooper demostró la incapacidad del Presidente Bush tras
el paso del huracán "Katrina". Gracias a estos periodistas, los
poderosos no se salieron con la suya.
Ahora nos toca a
nosotros denunciar la sanguinaria y casi eterna dictadura de los Castro en
Cuba, y los asesinatos de estudiantes en México y Venezuela con complicidad de
sus Gobiernos.
Igual nos tocó en su
momento enfrentar al Presidente Barack Obama por no cumplir su promesa
migratoria y por deportar a más de 2 millones de indocumentados, y al líder
republicano, John Boehner, por la hipocresía de decir que estaba a favor de una
reforma migratoria y (al mismo tiempo) bloquear un voto en la Cámara de
Representantes.
No creo en ser
partidista. Soy fieramente independiente. Pero como periodistas, hay que tomar
partido. Como lo dijo el sobreviviente del holocausto y ganador del Premio
Nobel de la Paz, Elie Wiesel: "Debemos tomar partido. La neutralidad sólo
ayuda al opresor, nunca a la víctima".
Lo peor en nuestra
profesión es cuando nos quedamos callados ante una injusticia o abuso de poder.
Tristemente nos quedamos callados antes de la guerra de Iraq y, por lo tanto,
murieron innecesariamente miles de soldados norteamericanos y decenas de miles
de civiles iraquíes.
No soy menos
periodista por tomar una posición. Al contrario. Hay veces en que la única
manera honesta de hacer periodismo es dejando de ser neutral y confrontando a
los poderosos. El silencio es el peor pecado en el periodismo. No seas neutral.
Posdata. Aquí está el
discurso dedicado a los periodistas asesinados recientemente en Siria y en
México, "Ustedes fueron nuestros ojos; ahora son parte de nuestra
alma": http://t.co/Odd1hLYPSm
Ésta es una parte de
mi discurso ante el Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas.
Jorge Ramos Ávalos.
Elnorte.com. Nueva York, 29/11/2014
International Press Freedom Awards
Jorge Ramos
2014 CPJ Burton Benjamin Memorial Awardee
Jorge Ramos is a
Mexican-American journalist and author. He has co-anchored the award-winning
evening newscast "Noticiero Univision" (Univision News) since 1986.
He also hosts "Al Punto" (To the Point), the Univision Network's
Sunday public affairs program, and recently started hosting his first program
in English, "America with Jorge Ramos," on Fusion, a TV network and
joint venture between ABC News and Univision News.
Ramos is one of the
most highly respected journalists in the United States and Latin America. He
has covered five wars and has reported some of the most important news stories
of the past two decades, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the
disintegration of the former Soviet Union, the 9/11 terrorist attacks,
Hurricane Katrina, and the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Ramos has
interviewed some of the world's most influential political leaders and writers
of the 21st century.
He is the author of
11 books and writes a weekly column for more than 40 newspapers in the United
States and Latin America, which is distributed by The New York Times Syndicate.
He also provides commentary for three daily radio shows for the Univision Radio
network and collaborates with www.Univision.com. He has also been instrumental
in promoting literacy among Latinos; in 2002, he created "Despierta
Leyendo" (Wake Up Reading), the first book club in the history of Hispanic
television.
Ramos has received
eight Emmy Awards for excellence in journalism, including the National Academy
of Television Arts and Sciences' Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. That same
year, Ramos won the John F. Hogan Distinguished Service Award from the Radio
Television Digital News Association, as well as the Sol Taishoff Award for
Excellence, given by the National Press Foundation. In 2011, the Club de
Periodistas de México (Journalists' Club of Mexico) gave him the Premio
Internacional de Periodismo (International Journalism Award) for his interviews
with the Mexican presidential candidates, and in 2008, the Commonwealth Club of
California recognized him with the Distinguished Citizen Award for being one of
the outstanding individuals who embody the American Dream as an immigrant to
the United States. In 2004, Ramos was honored with the Chairman's Humanitarian
Award from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute for the promotion of
Latino issues, as well as with the American Association of Publishers' Honors
Award. In 2001, he received the prestigious Maria Moors Cabot Journalism Award
from Columbia University.
Ramos has been called
the "star newscaster of Hispanic TV" by The Wall Street Journal. Time
magazine included him in its list of "the 25 most influential Hispanics in
the United States" and Newsweek in its list of 50 political and media
figures. A survey conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center found that Ramos is the
second most recognized Latino leader in the country. Latino Leaders magazine
chose him as one of "The Ten Most Admired Latinos" and "101 Top
Leaders of the Latino Community in the U.S."
Ramos holds a
master's degree in international studies from the University of Miami and a
bachelor's in communication from Ibero-American University in Mexico City. He
has also completed a post-graduate course in broadcast journalism at the
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). In 2007, the University of
Richmond awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree.
The text of Ramos' acceptance speech, as prepared for
delivery, is below.
I love being a
journalist. It is the only profession in the world in which your job
description is to be rebellious and irreverent. In other words, journalism
keeps you forever young. As Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez used to
say: This is the best profession in the world. But we can, and we should, use
journalism as a weapon for a higher purpose: justice.
The best of
journalism happens when we take a stand: when we question those who are in
power, when we confront the politicians who abuse their authority, when we
denounce an injustice. The best of journalism happens when we side with the
victims, with the most vulnerable, with those who have no rights. The best of
journalism happens when we, purposely, stop pretending that we are neutral and
recognize that we have a moral obligation to tell truth to power.
I believe in the
basics of journalism. I have nothing against objectivity. Our profession is
based on finding the facts, on reporting exactly what happened, on being
obsessed with details. We should not get it wrong. If five people died, we have
to say five, not six or seven. We should get the name right, the quote right,
the numbers right. Our credibility depends on this.
I have nothing
against being balanced. Every story has at least two points of view and we have
to report both. This has to be like a reflex. If a Republican said something, I
bet you a Democrat has a response, and vice versa. If a president proposes a
new law, the opposition should also have a say. This has to be second nature.
But to get all the
facts and to present both points of view doesn't mean that we got the story
right.
When we deal with the
powerful, we have to take a stand. Yes, we have to take an ethical decision and
side with those who have no power. If we have to decide between being a friend
or an enemy of the president, of the governor, of the dictator, it should be an
easy choice: I'm a reporter and I don't want to be your friend.
When I'm doing an
interview with someone important, I always assume two things: First, that if I
don't ask the tough questions, nobody else will. That's my job. And second,
that most probably I will never talk to that person again. Some of the worst
interviews that I've seen happen when the reporter refuses to ask difficult
questions just to maintain access to his sources. That's self-censorship.
Yes, I'm arguing here
for "point of view journalism." It means being transparent, it means
recognizing to our audience, to our readers, that we have opinions and a code
of ethics. We don't live in a vacuum. All the time, we are taking moral choices
right before the interview, right before the investigation or the coverage. It
is perfectly O.K. not to be neutral and to openly take a stand.
We have many great
examples of courageous journalists who decided to take a stand:
Edward R. Murrow
confronted biased Senator Joe McCarthy.
Walter Cronkite
openly criticized the Vietnam War.
The Washington Post
reporters got rid of a corrupt president, President Nixon.
Christiane Amanpour
denounced President Clinton's flip-flop policies and made him accountable for
what happened in Bosnia.
And Anderson Cooper
showed the incompetence of the Bush administration after Hurricane Katrina.
If they did it, I can
do it. Therefore, I think I can call Fidel Castro a dictator, even though I
can't get a visa to go to Cuba.
We were right to
report early this year that the Venezuelan government was behind the killings
of dozens of students. Obviously, President Maduro hasn't given us an interview.
And we are right to
report now that there is a huge conflict of interest in Mexico because a
government contractor is financing the $7 million home of the president's wife.
That's not saving Mexico. That's corruption.
Can you imagine what
would happen here if a government contractor would secretly finance the private
home of Michelle Obama? Well, that is happening in Mexico and, believe it or
not, there is not even an independent investigation on this matter. Because of
the so-called "White House" in Mexico and the disappearance of 43
students, thousands of Mexicans want President Peña Nieto to resign. We have to
report that. No, Peña Nieto doesn't want to talk to me either.
Now let me tell you
what it means for me to be a journalist and to be an immigrant. This defines
me. I came to the U.S. after they tried to censor me in Mexico. So this country
gave me the opportunities that my country of origin couldn't give me. And, of
course, when it comes to immigration, I take a stand.
As an immigrant
myself, many times I speak up for other immigrants who don't have a voice.
That's why I told President Obama that he didn't keep his promise on
immigration and that's why I told Speaker John Boehner, to his face, that he
blocked immigration reform in the House. I think I was just doing my job. As a
journalist, part of my job is to make visible the millions of immigrants who
are invisible to the rest of America.
I don't believe in
being partisan. But I believe in taking a stand. As Nobel Prize winner Elie
Wiesel once said: "We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor,
never the victim." In front of genocide, dictators, and politicians
abusing their power, we can't be neutral.
The worst in our
profession is when we stay silent. Sadly, we stayed silent before the war in
Iraq and thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi
civilians died unnecessarily. We have to learn from that. Silence is the worst
sin in journalism. But the best is when journalism becomes a way of doing
justice and speaking truth to power.
That's why tonight I
want to dedicate this award to all the journalists who have been recently
killed in Syria and in Mexico. You were our eyes. Now you are part of our soul.
Jorge Ramos 2014 Burton Benjamin Memorial Award
acceptance speech from Committee to Protect Journalists on Vimeo.
