BY IRA A. LIPMAN CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT GUARDSMARK, INC.
ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM
THANK YOU.
TONIGHT WE CELEBRATE NOT ONLY THE BIRTH OF AN AWARD TO HONOR THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF JOURNALISM, BUT ALSO A MAN WHO HELPED ESTABLISH THOSE STANDARDS AND EXEMPLIFIED THEM THROUGHOUT A CAREER. THAT WAS BOTH BRILLIANT AND EXTRAORDINARY.
I’LL LET HISTORIANS AND SCHOLARS RECOUNT JOHN CHANCELLOR’S ENORMOUS ACHIEVEMENTS, ANY ONE OF WHICH MOST JOURNALISTS WOULD BE HAPPY TO CLAIM AS THE PINNACLE OF THEIR CAREERS. MY PURPOSE TONIGHT IS MUCH EASIER—BUT AT THE SAME TIME, FOR ME, MUCH MORE DIFFICULT—BECAUSE MORE PERSONAL. I WANT TO TELL YOU WHY SOMEONE WHO HAS SPENT HIS ENTIRE CAREER IN BUSINESS IS ESTABLISHING AN AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM. AND WHY I ASKED JOHN CHANCELLOR TO LET US NAME IT IN HIS HONOR.
MY OWN PERSPECTIVE ON THE ESSENTIAL ROLE OF JOURNALISM STEMS FROM MY YOUTH. YOU HAVE TO TRY TO IMAGINE WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR A SENSITIVE JEWISH BOY GROWING UP IN LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, RIGHT AFTER WORLD WAR TWO. AS TIME WENT ON, THERE WERE MORE AND MORE REVELATIONS ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST, AND HOW THE NAZIS TRIED TO DESTROY AN ENTIRE PEOPLE—MY PEOPLE—NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY DID, BUT SIMPLY BECAUSE OF WHO THEY WERE.
IN 1952, FIVE YEARS BEFORE LITTLE ROCK, ANNE FRANK’S DIARY %%AS FIRST PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH AND BROUGHT HOME TO ME WITH IMMENSE FORCE THE HORROR OF BIGOTRY, PREJUDICE, AND HATRED. I COULDN’T UNDERSTAND HOW PEOPLE COULD ALLOW SUCH THINGS TO HAPPEN, UNTIL I LEARNED THAT THE PEOPLE DIDN’T KNOW. THERE HAD BEEN RUMORS—AND WE KNOW NOW THAT MANY GOVERNMENT LEADERS WERE AWARE OF WHAT WAS GOING ON—BUT FOR THE MOST PART THE PEOPLE DIDN’T KNOW. THE NAZIS CLOAKED THEIR CRIMES IN DARKNESS AND HID THEM WITH LIES.
WHEN THE SCHOOL INTEGRATION CRISIS HIT LITTLE ROCK IN 1957, I WAS SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. THE STREETS WERE FILLED WITH MOBS OF RACIST’S, SCREAMING THEIR BIGOTRY AND HATRED. THE ARKANSAS NATIONAL GUARD WAS CALLED OUT TO PREVENT BLACK CHILDREN FROM ENTERING CENTRAL HIGH. TO A YOUNG TEENAGER, IT ALL SEEMED SO FAMILIAR, BUT THIS TIME THE LIES WERE BEING TOLD ABOUT BLACKS.
I BELIEVED THEN, AS I BELIEVE NOW, THAT MOST PEOPLE ARE GOOD AND WILL DO WHAT’S RIGHT, IF THEY KNOW THE TRUTH. AS DAVID HALBERSTAM NOTED [IN HIS BOOK, THE FIFTIES], I BECAME A SOURCE FOR JOHN CHANCELLOR ON WHAT WAS HAPPENING INSIDE CENTRAL HIGH. IN REALITY, I WAS JUST A SCARED KID MAKING A DESPERATE CRY FOR HELP. JOHN CHANCELLOR WAS MY INSURANCE POLICY, MY PROTECTION AGAINST THE WORLD’S INEQUITIES.
THROUGH HIS REPORTING, JOHN CHANCELLOR DISPELLED THE LIES AND IGNORANCE WITH LIGHT AND TRUTH. FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE NEW AGE OF TELEVISION JOURNALISM ENABLED THE WORLD TO SEE WITH SUDDEN IMMEDIACY ALL THE UGLINESS OF RACIAL HATRED. AND THE RESULT WAS A GREAT ADVANCE FOR THE CAUSE OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND A BETTER WORLD FOR ALL.
THAT IS WHY JOURNALISM IS SO IMPORTANT TODAY, AND WILL BE IN THE FUTURE. IT IS OUR FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST THOSE WHO WOULD SUBJECT THE WORLD TO LIES AND IGNORANCE. BY SPREADING LIGHT AND TRUTH, JOURNALISTS HAVE THE POWER AND INFLUENCE TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN—NOT JUST FOR A FEW, BUT FOR MILLIONS OR EVEN BILLIONS.
BUT IT TAKES COURAGE, CHARACTER, AND INTEGRITY. IT TAKES MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE WILLING TO RISK THEIR LIVES, BRAVE JOURNALISTS LIKE WELLES HANGEN, WHO WAS MURDERED IN CAMBODIA IN 1970 AND WHOSE REMAINS WERE NOT EVEN IDENTIFIED UNTIL TWO YEARS AGO; LIKE TERRY ANDERSON, WHO SPENT SEVEN YEARS AS A HOSTAGE IN BEIRUT; LIKE THE MORE THAN 100 JOURNALISTS AROUND THE WORLD WHO WERE KILLED IN 1994.
SPREADING LIGHT AND TRUTH ALSO TAKES HONESTY, FORTITUDE, AND PERSEVERANCE.
IT TAKES WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING.
AND IT TAKES AN UNRELENTING ZEAL FOR EXCELLENCE.
NO ONE EMBODIES ALL THESE TRAITS SO MUCH AS YOU, JACK CHANCELLOR. TO ME, JOHN CHANCELLOR REPRESENTS TRUTH ITSELF. I OFTEN WONDER WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED IF A JOHN CHANCELLOR HAD KNOWN OF AUSCHWITZ, OR HAD EVEN REPORTED THE RUMORS, SPREADING LIGHT OVER WHAT ELIE WIESEL CALLED THE “KINGDOM OF NIGHT.” PERHAPS ANNE FRANK WOULD STILL BE ALIVE TODAY.
THIS AWARD WILL INSPIRE JOURNALISTS EVERYWHERE TO CARRY ON THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE, AND IT IS NAMED FOR JOHN CHANCELLOR BECAUSE HE IS MY HERO. HE WAS MY HERO AT AGE 16 IN LITTLE ROCK, AND HE IS MY HERO TODAY. WITH THIS AWARD, I AM PERPETUATING MY HERO’S NAME IN THE HOPE THAT IT WILL FOSTER GREAT JOURNALISM, WHICH WILL BRING LIGHT AND TRUTH TO THE PEOPLE AND MAKE THIS A BETTER WORLD.
THANK YOU.