Mirror - Vol. 13, No. 15 - February 23, 1989

              The
FairfieldMRRORV Volume 13, No. 15 Our Second Decade Thursday, February 23, 1989 "Happy Pearl Harbor Day"
Kurtzman Details Ethical Dilemmas of the Journalist
Lynn Ann Casey
Assistant Editor
"It isn't easy to see who is
telling the truth." "It is necessary
forjournalists to regard everything
they are told with a grain of salt."
Journalists are faced with ethical
dilemmas every day in their pro-fession.
This was the topic of Joel
Kurtzman, Business and Financial
Journalist of the New York Times
on February 14.
In "Media and Business:
The Ethical Dilemmas," the inau-gural
lecture of the John Winthrop
Wright Lecture Series, Kurtzman
addressed the problems that come
along with the journalism profes-sion.
"The idea of studying busi-ness
ethics is long overdue," said
Kurtzman in praise of the series.
, Kurtzman calls ethics "those
values that enable us to a common
good." Journalists are trained to be
skeptics and, despite the ethical
barriers and obstacles in their path,
they must "find the truth." Kurt-zman
has seen this in his experi-ence
at theNew York Times as well
as in other endeavors in writing.
Dr. Keith Martin* of the
School ofBusiness at Fairfield Uni-versity,
introduced Kurtzman,
naming the many accomplishments
of the weekly columnist. A gradu-ate
of the University of California
at Berkeley in 1970, Kurtzman
went on to get his masters at the
University of Houston. He has
founded a scholarly journal,
worked as a consultant to Toyota,
has forecasted the debt crisis in the
Third World, and has lectured at
many other universities, including
Oxford and Georgetown. Kurt-zman
is also the author of thirteen
books.
The columnist feels that
ethics is "a code of objectivity"
and he exemplified this specifi-cally
with the policies ofthe Times.
All journalists at the New York
Times must make a pledge when
they begin theirj obs to stand above
temptation in return for a promise
oflifetime employment. Kurtzman
feels that this encourages journal-ists
even more to stand by their
ethical code.
"Without the media, it
would be a quiet world," com-mented
Kurtzman. But, the es-sence
of the media includes the
reporting offacts to the public. The
journalist has the responsibility to
distinguish the facts "even if it
goes against theirown ideology."
Journalists must ignore their opin-ions
and biases to report the facts
objectively.
A journalist can interview
sometimes up to 30 people for one
story. But, according to Kurtzman,
"the chances are quite high that he
(the journalist) is being manipu-lated
or simply lied to." The jour-nalist
must "look past the hype to
ascertain the truth."
Before a story is published
at the New York Times, it can go
through as many as seven layers of
editing. The process, though, does
happen quickly and "errors do get
through." These layers are neces-sary
to "remove our prejudice and
ideology." Despite this, the layers
and care taken,'with each article is
subject to criticism.
Kurtzman discussed public
relations and the relation of such
departments and companies to the
newspaper media. These compa-nies
can be a temptation to jounal-ists
because they often offer trips,
meals, and other perks to jounal-ists.
But, at the Times, said Kurt-zman,
"we pay our own way." Care
must be taken because public rela-tions
people are trained to manage
the media, and many are experts at
theirjob. Therefore, reporters must
develop "delicate relationships
with public relations agencies
because these agencies can deter-mine
what we know about the
truth."
"It is the very critical issues
that make journalism an interest-ing
profession." The profesison is
"subject to bribes and high-pow-ered
propaganda." As ajournalist,
Kurtzman said he must "live by
my code and make sure my sources
are the right ones."
Kurtzman concluded by
saying that, "we must ask ourselves
tough questions and it can be tiring
and wrenching, but it also can be a
hell of a lot of fun."
Novelist Analyzes Roots of American Revolution
Christine Doody
Staff Writer
The fourth lecture in the
Revolution Lecture Series was held
on Monday, February 13th, at 8
pm in the Nursing Auditorium. The
guest speaker, novelist Howard
Fast, spoke on the meaning of
revolution in America.
Howard Fast began writing
in 1933 and has since written over
fifty historical novels ranging in
subject matter from ancient Egypt
to 20th Century America. How-ever,
his main focus in many nov-els
has been on the American
Revolution.
Fast began the lecture by
creating an image ofa wheel where
there was something at the top and
something different at the bottom.
He said that for a valid revolution
to occur, that which was once on
the top must descend to the lower
part of the wheel, while that which
was once on the bottom must ro-tate
upward, achieving the top
position.
As a result of the Glorious
Revolution, Fast explained, the
English throne was weakened and
"it exercised it's power in North
America with the conjection ofthe
English mercantile community."
He stated that in America there
were particularly four groups,
representing different industries
and classes, that were ready to
revolt against the conditions that
prevented them from progressing.
He categorized them as the indus-trial
workers, the farmers, the
people on the frontier, and the upper
class Americans.
The industrial workers in-cluded
carpenters, shipbuilders,
glass makers, and specifically the
Rope Walkers, those who manu-factured
rope. Their main objec-tion
to British rule was to the vari-ous
Acts that Parliament passed,
most of which strongly discour-aged
trade with any other nation
other than Great Britain.
In many cases, the colonies
were permitted to produce goods,
but those goods could only be sold
within the colonies or to England.
Fast pointed out that the industrial
workers were among the very first
to revolt because Britain "got in
their way all the time."
The second group Fast
mentioned was the farmers. Amer-ica
during the time of the Revolu-tion
was a great agricultural soci-ety;
plantations were numerous.
However, most of the land was
owned by the king, not the colo-nists.
For the farmers, owning
property meant freedom and wealth
as well as a field on which to plant
crops.
Thirdly, Fast noted that the
people on the frontier were also
unhappy with land restrictions that
the throne enforced. Frontier
people would travel through the
wilderness and settle in an area
with hopes that the crown wouldn't
locate them. However, the king's
soldiers, allied with the Indians,
usually managed to find them.
Hostility between the crown
and the colonies increased with the
fourth group Fast discussed - the
upper class Americans. This cate-gory
included people such as
George Washington and Thomas
Jefferson who were educated, well-read,
and land owners.
Fast used Washington as an
example to illustrate how tensions
were created. Fast explained how
Washington sent barrels oftobacco
which were produced on his plan-tation
to London, along with a list
of goods he needed and sometimes
wanted in exchange forhis tobacco.
Fast described Washington as one
"who never had a dollar in his
pocket," for England never gave
him a cash payment for his crop.
Fast continued to discuss
how each group contributed to the
American Revolution . and the
importance of Thomas Paine's
pamplet Common Sense and its
influence on the Declaration of
Independence. Fast also asserted
that the American Revolution
"shook all of Europe" leading to
the French Revolution and other
revolutionary struggles.
At the conclusion of his
lecture, Fast gave the audience the
opportunity to askquestions. Some
of his answers were based on his
personal experiences and involve-ment
in various political activities.
The audience learned that Fast was
a member of the Communist party
for fifteen years and, as a result,
found it difficult to live in America
during this time of Great Terror,
which he describes in his most
recent novel The Pledge .
Sophomores Prepare for
Orientation '89
Suzanne Podurgiel and Chris McSherry Photo: R. N.
AnnMarie Puckhaber
News Editor
The class of 1991, under
the advisement ofJeanne DiMuzio,
Judicial Officer and Director of
Orientation, has already begun
planning for Orientation' 89 which
will welcome in the class of 1993.
The first meeting con-cerning
orientation was held last
semester in November and the
selection process for the executive
council began the day students
returned from Christmas vacation.
Christopher McSherry
and Suzanne Podurgiel have been
selected out of a group of twenty
people, four men and sixteen
women, for the co-chair positions.
McSherry is a marketing major
from Crestwood, NY, and Podur-giel
is a biology major from Nor-wich,
CT.
The six day-chair posi-tions
have been filled by: William
Crean, a politics major from
Westfield, MA; Caroline DuBois,
abiology major from Bedford, NH;
Alan Couture, abiology major from
Waterbury, CT; Annemarie Ran-dazzo,
a business major from
Bronz, NY; James Callow, a busi-ness
major from Park Ridge, NJ;
and Lori Mazza, a religious studies
major from Levittown, NY.
DiMuzio said that the
selection process reflected what
the students will be confronted with
during orientation. All of the co-chair
and day-chair candidates, 31
in total, went through the same
process.
The candidates were
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