Journalists should question, strive for truth

by Maryann Lockington

Student journalists should always strive for press freedom even if it seemed unattainable, a former newspaper columnist said at USP's World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) celebrations on Friday.

Former Fiji Times columnist Seona Smiles, who used the literary works of famed American writer Kurt Vonnegut to focus on freedom of expression, said freedom to write the truth was "not something someone else gave you but something you gave yourself".

Smiles said that the media’s job was to always question and look at the little details that might be missed by others.

“Nothing much can stand the scrutiny of the eye that detects the absurd,” she said.

“The ability to look at the normal and find the ridiculous, the absurdity of a situation is the journalist’s greatest skill,” she said.

Smiles is well-known for her own sharp eye, use of humour and razor-sharp wit in her columns and poetry.

She said humour was her way of getting the message across to her readers.

“I attempt to use humour to make a somewhat deeper point to get people to read a somewhat serious matter, such as freedom of information and freedom of speech and freedom of the press, in a way that will perhaps encourage them to open their minds to a view point or at least no alienate them,” she said.

Originally published by Wansolwara