Hewa: Be a person first, a journalist second

Award-winning essay for the Haak Saan Responsible Journalism Scholarship, written by MMJC student Nelanthi Hewa.

Published on Western News on July 17, 2018.

“You’re exploiting me,” she said. “You’re trying to dig something out of me.” She didn’t hang up. Instead, there were the sounds of the key in her office door, her loud, shaky breathing.

I whispered an apology and ended the call.

I had been a Journalism student at Western for less than a year, but I was already used to feeling nervous as I planned my questions before an interview, or feeling elated during one when I heard the perfect quote. I was wholly unused to feeling ashamed for doing exactly what I was taught.

It had started innocuously: I had been calling to follow up on an interview my colleague and I had done for a story on London women in poverty. The initial interview had gone well – we’d even been thanked for working on the piece. So how did it end with a phone call during which I was accused of exploitation, even voyeurism?

As I turned to peers and professors for advice, I started to wonder – Is journalism exploitative? (Continue reading)