Storytellers

I have a nice job. I write about things that are happening in this lovely and lively little place I’ve taken to calling home, and I get to learn things and meet people I otherwise never would. It really is a pleasant task.

But journalism isn’t all nice. There are members of the profession much more worthy of the title than myself, who go to places far beyond the ones they call home to witness things I can’t conceive of seeing.

There are reporters who travel to war zones and disaster areas, who go undercover and learn about groups like the Mafia and the Klan, who put their lives in danger to tell a story.

These reporters are not risking their lives as daring acts, designed to prove a point. They are not voyeurs, hoping to see the worst and most gruesome of humanity.

What they are doing is letting us know what is happening in our world. They are giving us context. They are helping us to understand things that will inform humanitarian acts and government policies. Executed properly, these stories can move mountains.

I admire these reporters, these journalists, who through photography and words, deliver truths that would otherwise be lost in translation, both literally and politically. We need them around.

When Mohamed Fahmy was sentenced to three more years in an Egyptian prison, some were quick to suggest that despite his Canadian citizenship, he was neither born nor living in Canada, and not working for a Canadian company, therefore is not deserving of Canadian support for extradition.

This thinking has the unfortunate implication that a reporter’s status as a Canadian is more valid if that reporter is in Canada. Unfortunate because this is a global society. We live in one corner of it, affected by the rest. We’re affected by wars and disasters and politics abroad.

If we only had Canadian reporters telling only Canadian stories, like the ones I write about in this paper, it would be like seeing the world through a keyhole, with most of the image obscured. And if we rely on foreign sources for foreign stories, the rest of the picture is distorted.

This is not to say that there are not excellent reporters all across the world. In places where those who report news of government corruption risk being lynched, and in places where insisting on independent publishing can mean exile or prison, brave journalists steadfastly continue their profession. Theirs is not a pleasant job. It is necessary work.

But to think that we can turn our backs on the journalists who tell Canadians what is happening outside of our borders is a mistake. Their work is also necessary.

mihal@mihalzada.com