Tripping Over the Distinction Between Journalists and Activists

You probably saw the footage of a videographer who tripped and kicked refugees fleeing a camp near the Hungarian border village of Roszke. I wouldn’t call Petra Lazlo a “journalist.” She worked for N1TV, a station founded and run by the far-right anti-immigrant (and anti-Semitic) Jobbik Party.

That makes Lazlo an activist, not a journalist, no matter what media credentials and video equipment she had with her in the field. Although N1TV fired her, Lazlo’s activism was entirely consistent with the Jobbik view.

So labeling Lazlo a journalist stumbles down the same slippery slope as the Washington-based Newseum, which kicked up a storm in 2013 for honoring two Hamas operatives among journalists killed in combat zones.

After tripping over the distinction between journalists and activistis, Newseum wisely withdrew Mahmoud Al-Kumi and Hussam Salama of Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV from the commemoration.

Featured image via YouTube/Shareable Videos

Before you comment on this article, please remind yourself of our Commen