23 March 2003

The ethics of journalism

Back in 1989 some journalists were asked if they would warn US troops of an ambush by enemy troops and they [Peter Jennings and Mike Wallace] said “no” because they were journalists first, Americans second. [source]
George Connell, a Marine Corps Colonel, responded: “I feel utter contempt. Two days later they're both walking off my hilltop, they're two hundred yards away and they get ambushed. And they're lying there wounded. And they're going to expect I'm going to send Marines up there to get them. They're just journalists, they're not Americans.” The discussion concluded as Connell said: “But I'll do it. And that's what makes me so contemptuous of them. And Marines will die, going to get a couple of journalists.”
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