Often, we hear, “Why did they print that?” or “Why did someone allow someone to write something ‘we’ disagree with?” Nowadays, it is almost a crime to say or think something someone else finds offensive, even in some fire service organizations. This is tragic and is by very definition tyranny. We have all been places where it was said with righteous indignation that we should not allow folks who disagree with the science, the standards, the code, the opinion of this expert or that expert, or this training or that training to be heard or allowed to have a platform. We should, in fact, silence all who disagree with us.
In 1914, Walter Williams wrote “The Journalist’s Creed,” “a landmark document for the industry known as the ‘Fourth Estate.’” Walter was president of the University of Missouri from 1930 to 1935; the interesting thing about Walter was that he did not have a college degree. He was an old-school newspaper person. He started young and worked hard to become excellent at every aspect of the job. Walter worked hard to understand all he could about journalism and its obligation to society.
Walter Williams’ understanding of this relationship was expressed in the creed he wrote. It reflected his belief in fair and honest reporting, in the need for the independence of journalists from the undue influence of politics, money, or government. It was an expression of the ethics that he knew were necessary for the industry he loved.Walter gave to all those who would subsequently take up the call to write or report a creed, a code, and a way of being within journalism.
With all the electronic media, some folks think the time has come for a new code and a new creed. How firefighters and folks get information is changing; it is not good or bad—it is simply a change in how information is consumed and delivered. But serious journalists assert the fundamental question is, Have ethics changed, has morality changed, has the role of the journalist and the relationship with the consumer changed?
These are big questions, and we humbly are not the authority to help navigate these questions and ramifications of the possible answers, nor can I claim to qualify as a journalist. At best, I am a flaneur wandering uncertainly on the sidelines of the world’s most admired profession, firefighting. We believe, however, albeit with little in common with the great Walter Williams, that he was undeniably correct, that like the Magna Carta, the Rights of Man, the Declaration of Independence, and the United States Constitution, his words are timeless. His intention and contentions are as true and necessary today as the day he wrote them and will always be.
我相信新闻业。
I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust.
我相信，清晰的思维和清晰的陈述，准确性和公平是良好新闻业的基础。
我相信，记者只应该写他内心的真实。
I believe that suppression of the news, for any consideration other than the welfare of society, is indefensible.
I believe that no one should write as a journalist what he would not say as a gentleman; that bribery by one’s own pocketbook is as much to be avoided as bribery by the pocketbook of another; that individual responsibility may not be escaped by pleading another’s instructions or another’s dividends.
我相信广告，新闻和社论专栏都应符合读者的最大利益。所有人都应该占上风的单一标准；对良好新闻业的最高考验是其公共服务的衡量标准。
I believe that the journalism which succeeds best—and best deserves success—fears God and honors Man; is stoutly independent, unmoved by pride of opinion or greed of power, constructive, tolerant but never careless, self-controlled, patient, always respectful of its readers but always unafraid, is quickly indignant at injustice; is un-swayed by the appeal of privilege or the clamor of the mob; seeks to give every man a chance and, as far as law and honest wage and recognition of human brotherhood can make it so, an equal chance; is profoundly patriotic while sincerely promoting international good will and cementing world-comradeship; is a journalism of humanity, of and for today’s world.
乔治·奥威尔（George Orwell）说：“如果自由根本没有任何意义，那就意味着告诉人们他们不想听到什么。”约翰·斯图尔特·米尔（John Stuart Mill）同样写道，反对自由的最糟糕的犯罪之一是“污名化那些认为那些相反的人是坏人和不道德的人”。言论自由和公正的新闻保存对消防服务与我们的国家一样重要。正如官僚主义的那样，由于看似无限的代码和标准，过程和程序，在消防服务中找到了更多的盈利和繁荣方法，其中一些人现在被“科学”教会的神职人员成圣无隶属的平台更为关键。
只有让这些页面向每位消防员开放，我们才能尊重我们的使命不可剥夺的人类，即我们所做的一切。为了进行任何创新或见解，我们必须感谢我们行业建立其遗产的工艺的骄傲。消防员努力地掌握我们的任务不是为了获得更多的薪水或晋升，而是为了比我们更大的事情。这些页面将继续允许当地所有权的乐趣，协作问题解决的正义以及多样性和当地专业知识的力量蓬勃发展和被听到，无论谁受到伤害。
