To Ada Petriczko, being born a woman can be a matter of life or death. Hailing from Poland, she reports on sexual violence and gender injustices around the globe. As a human rights journalist, her mission is to amplify the voices of women who have been systematically silenced by their communities and governments. Their stories have to be heard, she argues, in order to reshape our societies. This includes reporting on her home country, where democratic stability and women's rights are increasingly under threat.
Petriczko joined the MIT Center for International Studies (CIS) last fall as its Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow. The fellowship is awarded annually by The International Women's Media Foundation and provides its recipient with research opportunities at MIT and further training at The Boston Globe and The New York Times.
Recently, she sat down to discuss her guiding principles as a journalist, the challenges facing her craft, and the rewarding experiences of this fellowship. She also weighs in on the rise of autocracy in Central and Eastern Europe. On Feb. 3, she will explore this topic and its impact on free media at a CIS Starr Forum event with experts from Poland, Hungary, and Russia.
Q: One of your fields of interest is ethics in journalism. What does it mean to be an ethical journalist to you? And what are some of the challenges that ethical journalism faces today?
A: I don't believe in objectivity, but I do believe in fairness. Ethical journalism is about being fair to the facts and being fair to the people you're writing about. Aidan White, an esteemed journalist who founded the Ethical Journalism Network, told me in an interview that there are about 400 different journalism codes of conduct in the world, but if you examine them closely, they all boil down to the same five core principles: accuracy, independence, impartiality, humanity, and accountability. I try to play by these rules.
I report on sexual violence and other human rights violations within vulnerable communities and have been in situations in which people don't want to share their experiences. I always respect their requests and back out, even if I've traveled far for the story. This can be a deal breaker in our current news landscape, which is extremely fast-paced and demanding. Ethical journalism takes more time and more thought. But I've found ways to talk about taboos without violating them. And that is oftentimes even more powerful.
