Taiwan Television Enterprise (TTV) news reporter Alex Ping (平宗正) drowned while covering Typhoon Nock-Ten on Monday. This is unfortunate and deserves consideration.
Reporters strive toward the viewers' right to know the news, and often disregard their own safety in the process. But it is extremely difficult to cultivate an outstanding reporter. Take Ping, for example. He was educated at the Department of Communication Management at Nanhua University. He passed the examination and became a TTV cameraman in August last year. Unfortunately, he sacrificed his life for his work. This is really sad, not only for his loved ones, but also for society.
A reporter who is willing to take great risks when covering the news is certainly worthy of praise. But he or she should also have enough wisdom to tell where danger lies. After all, reporters can only serve society best when they are safe. Putting safety first is totally different from not doing their jobs. Rather, it allows them to serve society much longer.
Taiwan has experienced war in the past. So our journalism education paid special attention to the safety of reporters. The journalism department at Fu Hsing Kang College -- better known as Political Warfare College -- was particularly good at cultivating military journalists. In a dangerous battlefield or natural disaster, will God grant a special favor to reporters if they do not even value their own safety? Think about it.
In war or disaster areas, it is very common for reporters to suffer under the scorching sun, bitter coldness or from the pangs of hunger. Although it is necessary to be brave, it is more necessary to be alert, industrious and safe. Reporters should never trust their survival to luck. Bullets and the wrath of mother nature do not discriminate.
During WWII, Pulitzer-Prize winning American journalist Ernie Pyle covered dramatic battles whether his life was put in danger or not. But he also emphasized that reporters should cherish their lives -- because their mission is to cover news and not to get themselves killed. They should never sacrifice their lives the way soldiers do.
During the serious flooding that took place early last month, a female reporter was covering the disaster while standing in muddy water up to her chest, with a cameraman taping her in the water with the heavy equipment on his shoulder. After seeing this on TV, Chinese Association for Human Rights chairman Hsu Wen-pin (許文彬) expressed his admiration and sympathy for the reporter. He also questioned whether her human rights had also been washed away by the floods.
Hsu asked this question: What are the motives driving our journalists to risk their lives to cover news like this? He said that if this phenomenon is the result of the vicious competition between the nation's media outlets, reporters themselves should have the wisdom to evaluate the situation. He also said that if this situation is a result of orders given by their superiors, such orders could be a violation of human rights. Under such circumstances, this will become a legal problem, not an ethical one.
Before he died, Ping was said to be unwilling to give up his expensive camera while submerged in the water. This spirit showed that he was an excellent journalist who was dedicated to his duties. But as a professor of journalism, how can I not be moved by the death of a young reporter?
An urgent task that faces us now is not only to attach great importance to the welfare of reporters, but also ensure they are aware of the dangers that face them.
Cheng Jim-ming is a professor in the Graduate Institute of Journalism at Chinese Culture University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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