Jordan Berk
Fighting to survive Journalism
Kimberly Dozier spoke sincerely about her time in Iraq during the Foster Foreman Conference this week. She started by reading excerpts from her new book Breathing the Fire: Fighting to Survive. She told us the story about recovering from her own wounds, some journalist may never encounter in their lifetime. As soon as she started I immediately became engrossed in the story she was telling. Her words were like a soundtrack to an upcoming movie.
- Situation Definition:
Dozier needed to get a good story, and tell it in a proper manner. Depending on her circumstances she may not have been able to get a true story. She also needed to have an unbiased report, and tell the story in a way that shows the truth.
- Analysis:
Dozier was able to go out into the war in Iraq. It is hard to actually capture hard-hitting news when you are with your news team. Sometimes the best way to capture a story is just going out on your own. Dozier was fortunate to be able to only travel with the U.S Military. They would protect her from all the bad things that could potentially happen while you are in a war zone.
As she became close with some of the soldiers she began to feel guilty. They were protecting her from harm, yet she was showing them in a negative light. Or was she? She may have become such good friends with the troops that she didn’t see them in an unbiased way. She says people call reporters war correspondents, but she doesn’t like to be referred to as that. “It sounds more important than we really are” said, Dozier.
She also talked about how she had to talk to other journalist, and they too became fans of other peoples work. She said that is why people like Steven Glass get caught, because other journalist want to prove them wrong. With each story that gets told people need to be credible and ethical to their readers.
- Conclusion:
Dozier has taught me how important it is to be unbiased in situations. Although you may get close to people you need to make sure that you are not trying to make them different