Aaron Brown’s comment that journalists are not
interrogators was an interesting thought to me. The term
“watch dog” seems so inherently aggressive and
journalists are the “watch dogs” of society.
To consider the idea further I searched the internet for
information. I found an interesting case in Iran, where
journalists are considered
“intelligence-seekers”, thus a threat. The
religious government is trying to censor expressions that
call for democracy. The government is having particular
trouble censoring digital media.
An Iranian guard said to journalist Maziar Bahari,”You
gather and report information: that is exactly what a spy
does.”
It’s interesting to see how differently people view
the role of journalists and a lot seems to depend upon the
context and legal environment of the country.
