Journalistic lessons

The U.S. gave virtually a state burial this week to someone few non-Americans have ever heard of. Tim Russert, a TV journalist, died unexpectedly last Fri., and the level of mourning was something normally reserved for a president. In France, the "political death" of famous news anchor Patrick Poivre d'Arvor - who was fired by TF1 after falling out of favor with Nicolas Sarkozy - met with a negative reaction from the majority of French people. Czech journalists have many lessons to learn - some good, some bad - from these two extraordinary events: How important professional integrity, dedication and preparation is; how to remain skeptical but avoid being cynical; how risky it can be to express personal political views; how to rub elbows with the power elite without being seduced or ruined by it; and how wrong something, somewhere must be if the journalist himself becomes too much of the story. [Czech Republic anchorman Bouygues journalism]