“Refusal to keep silent keeps moral injury at bay”
NEW BOOK EXPLORES MOTIVES OF JOURNALISTS FACING EXTREME ABUSE, VIOLENCE, REPRESSION
Dr. Anthony Feinstein’s latest book explores how moral courage can protect journalists from harm.
Dr. Anthony Feinstein, one of the world’s leading psychiatrists and researchers in the study of journalists and trauma, has just released a new book exploring how the moral mission of the profession can fuel — and psychologically protect — journalists confronting some of the harshest evils and repression.
Moral Courage: 19 Profiles of Investigative Journalists was released this week by GEditions, New York. From its introduction, Feinstein offers an exploration of the motivation and resilience of journalists who’ve suffered imprisonment, physical attacks and death threats at the hands of criminals and oppressive regimes.
“Despite the grave threats and violence endured, notwithstanding the grievous losses sustained and the fear experienced, these journalists would rather occupy this select spot on the moral courage spectrum than keep quiet.
In countries like Russia, Belarus, Bangladesh, and Iran, among many others, it has fallen to them to keep alive the remnants of their failing civil societies. In doing so, they remind their fellow citizens, cowed by authoritarian governments or criminal gangs, that all may not be lost.”
–Moral Courage (Feinstein, 2023)
In a brief email interview, Feinstein discussed the new book which grew out of his evolving study of moral injury among media workers.
Why did you write this book?
Feinstein: I wrote Moral Courage because I wanted to highlight the courage of journalists who work in countries with repressive regimes. At a time of fake news and with authoritarian rulers attacking the press and undermining press freedom, I believe it is crucial that we in civil society understand the essential role played by journalists in keeping us informed. I also wanted to shine a light on countries that may not be that familiar to Canadians or North Americans in general. Hence, I have included countries like Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, Paraguay, Zambia and Namibia.
What surprised you in your examination of these journalists’ stories?
First off, I was stunned by their amazing courage. They relentlessly pursue stories even though they know that the consequences for them will be grim. Their refusal to be silenced is remarkable. And what I learned is that there are common threads that bind a collective motivation. For these journalists, keeping silent is worse than the personal consequences that come their way from exposing corruption and incompetent leadership. Thus, the need to bear witness, which does come with terrible consequences for these journalists, outweighs personal concerns. This refusal to keep silent keeps moral injury at bay and this becomes a powerful motivating factor which all these journalists share. I explore this theme in greater detail in the book.
What do you hope comes of people reading this work?
My hope is that readers will appreciate the courage of these journalists and the importance of the work that they do. Good journalism is one of the pillars of intact civil society and in many of the cases highlighted, journalists remain as the last bastion of civil society after authoritarian rulers have essentially shredded democracy and democratic institutions in their country. This is a message that we in the West should not be blind to for the kinds of antidemocratic forces that have taken hold in countries such as Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and so on could, as we have seen, take root in our own societies. Thus there are lessons to be learned from reading about these countries and the challenges that they face while at the same time saluting these remarkable journalists who attempt to push back these malign influences.
(Feinstein is donating all royalties from the sale of Moral Courage to his not-for-profit fund that covers the costs of therapy for freelance journalists.)
