A thought on the limits of being neutral when you’re a journalist

“It would be irresponsible for me and CNN to tell you what the person being gang-raped says, what the rapist says — and to give each equal time and moral equivalence. I can’t do that because it means being neutral in the face of unspeakable horror. When you’re neutral, you’re an accessory.”
— Christiane Amanpour

Amanpour, for many years now a key international correspondent for CNN, made these remarks in a 2005 interview with Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey had asked her about reporting on poverty in Africa. During the interview, Amanpour also expressed remorse for not having paid attention to the genocide in Rwanda until it was too late, as her focus in those weeks had been on Serbia.