Journalists Without Borders or Unbiased Journalists of the World
By
Michael Opitz

Many in the news media have criticized Roger Ailes, Fox News President, for communicating his thoughts and advice to GW Bush. Journalists or media reporters, perhaps starting with Peter Arnet, have tried to elevate themselves into a special class of people that here-to-fore has never existed. Many reporters, or those who would consider themselves to be "Elite Journalists Without Borders" are not adherents of patriotism or allegiance to any country.

If those media reporters wish to be totally above the unwritten requirements of being a patriotic citizen of any country, they should petition the UN to create such a special status. This could be called, "Unbiased Journalists of the World" (UJW). They would then give up all rights and privileges of citizenship to any country and take a solemn pledge of allegiance to no one and to no country.

Obviously they would not be able to work for any corporation or organizational entity, because it is common knowledge that criticizing employers or not supporting the employer’s policies can result in termination of employment. Working for, then receiving money from any corporation, compromises honest journalistic reporting. Therefore, the UN will need to fund this new non-citizen class of reporter. Of course, there is the problem of criticizing any actions of the UN. Let us ignore that fact for the greater good of humanity. The UJW would then have to have special UN diplomatic status and passports and could not be expelled from any country under penalty of UN sanctions. There would be other special UN protections to be developed at a later time, but for the moment we have the basic framework of this new status for honest and true world class journalists.

Now the U.S. Courts have ruled that any one engaged in journalistic activities is protected by the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, freedom of the press. The new journalists like James Carville, Paul Begala, and George Stephanopoulos further complicate this. Many believe that they are actually political operatives who reclassified themselves as journalists without neutral certification and are therefore biased. This is a serious question for the true journalists of the world whose reputations and good standing in the world community could be damaged by imposters and pretenders. We need standards and certifications to be sure of unbiased reporting.

To be reclassified as an "UJW," the UN would need to create a set of standards and a special test to ensure that the "UJW" would be psychologically free of bias in order to receive the necessary worldwide credibility. The UJW applicant would also need to attend and pass educational course work to ensure that they have the knowledge and discipline to be able to report through unbiased eyes. After the UN’s UJW certification, the new graduate they would then be entitled to wear a specially designed “UN Journalist Badge,” as well as a turquoise uniform. Of course when they are engaged in undercover exposes’, they would have to obtain special permission from a special oversight body answerable only to the UN Security Council.

News outlets in each member UN country would be required to carry a quota of UJW stories each day to ensure that the UJW reporter's work is widely available to the citizenry of member countries. Their stories would have more credibility than those journalists who work and take money from corporations for their livelihood, because we all would then know they were totally free from bias.

If any UJM reporter found guilty of biased reporting by the UN, they would forfeit their “Diplomatic Non-Citizen” status, or if they just wanted to quit their job, they would then have to apply to three countries selected at random for citizenship. Otherwise, if they automatically resumed their previous citizenship, that could prevent them from being unbiased in their reporting. Any country from Uganda, to Saudi Arabia to China would have to accept them as new citizens. Of course, they may have to find a new career. Employment could not be guaranteed, but that is a non-issue for a true UJW because they never would be charged and fired for engaging in biased reporting.

It is now time for all journalists who are truly unbiased, who want to be free from any bias suspicions, and who believe that allegiance to country and state is secondary to neutral reporting, publicly demand this special status from the UN. Peter Arnet perhaps should be first in line, and George Stephanoulos should make a public statement regarding his desire to be second in line as an esteemed "Unbiased Journalist of the World." Are there any other journalists who are U.S. citizens willing to step up to the honesty and integrity required by the UN?

If the U.S. journalists are not willing to give up their citizenship, they should not criticize any citizen journalists who consider themselves to be Americans first and “journalists” someplace after family and, dare we say religion. Until then, which media reporter or so-called journalists, has the right to criticize Roger Ailes for offering his advice to any President of the United States? In the words of that esteemed, non-certified Unbiased Journalist of the World, George Stephanopoulos, defending ex President Bill Clinton from his many peccadilloes and his transfer of hi-tech missile technology to China, “So what!”

Michael Opitz