Ryszard Kapuściński, Journalist or Literary Author?

Ten years ago (2003), I remember watching an interview on Spanish TV that really got me thinking about journalism and in particular about journalists. The interviewee had a Polish name, very difficult to remember, I thought, but spoke Spanish fluently and had such charisma that after listening to him for ten minutes, I started writing down the titles of all the books he had written, which he was discussing with the TV host. The man was Ryszard Kapuściński, a Polish born war journalist that would die a few years after this interview took place. 

As soon as the show finished, I ordered one of his books. A year later, I bought another one. I started browsing online, looking for interviews and articles of this remarkable man. This is how I became acquainted with Kapuściński’s work. It did not occurred to me, however, that what I was reading on Travels With Herodotus was not journalism, but rather literature. Realist? Yes, but literature nevertheless.

Last week I started thinking about Kapuściński again while we were discussing the dilemma of ethics in journalism during our class. What does make a journalist ethical?, we asked ourselves, coming to the conclusion that there was no magic recipe to become an ethical journalist, but to try your best to adhere to what the general idea (if any) of ethics. We did find out, though, that there were several traits that an ethical professional should possess. These ‘basic’ qualities should include the ability to be as objective as possible. This, we know, is easier said than done, but a reporter should always try to stay neutral to the subject/news/person or organization he is writing about. Another important feature must be to not interfere in the scene, to remain neutral, once again, to what is happening or is about to happen. In addition, a good journalist should never conceal the truth or add fake details to the story he/she is telling. The journalist’s social responsibility is this and much more, but how many professionals really swear by this code? This is what got me thinking about Kapuściński. So far, and by what I have read about him, the Pole did not seem to be tick any of these boxes. He had admitted he could not stay neutral, he had said that non interfering in what was happening around him was not something he ever contemplated and he definitely admitted to adding details to his stories that perhaps were inaccurate and untrue.

The Polish author has been equally idolatrized and demonized and now I understand where this comes from. While I admire Ryszard Kapuściński’s flawless writing style and his incredible stories of war, poverty and survival around the world, I realize that perhaps being a wonderful writer does not mean you are, per se, a great journalist. I still think that Kapuściński invented a new concept of reportage or as he called it, reportage d’auteur in which through the eyes and experiences of the journalist, a story is told. This leads, inevitably, to a certain degree of subjectivity and Ryszard Kapuściński himself never denied that he was unable to separate reportage from literature. While he saw himself mainly as a writer, his career was devoted to being a reporter, so it would be fair to say that when critiques complain about inconsistencies in the journalist’s work or even false details about meetings with certain personalities that never took place as it is the case of the alleged meeting with Patrice Lumumba, which could have never taken place, as he visited Africa for the first time when Lumumba had already been assassinated, according to journalist and non-authorised biographer of the author, Artur Domoslavski. 

A journalist, from my point of view, is not supposed to be a person that makes a story more appealing and exciting by telling half truths or adding facts that never took place. These abilities could make a great historical writer, maybe, whose imagination can be used to make historical novels more appealing to the public. But a journalist? Shouldn’t a journalist be something else?

This discussion has changed my perception of this great writer, who will always have my respect as a literary author but who perhaps will not be my role model of a transparent, objective and ethical journalist from now on.