Once upon a Starry Knight…
Freedom of speech is a valuable right. In the United States, many people tend to take this right for granted or abuse it, but as journalists know all too well, it is essential to our freedom as citizens of this country. In many countries outside of the U.S., the freedom of speech and the press is one that is limited, where governments regulate and circumscribe the free flow of ideas in the marketplace by incarcerating or persecuting journalists who speak out against them. Still, there are those who are brave enough to stand up for what they believe is right, even if it means becoming a victim of such persecution. Abebe Gellaw is one such journalist, whose experiences in life lend him a provocative view on what it really means to have this underappreciated right.
Abebe Gellaw with former Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang - photo courtesy of Flickr.com and Yodel Anecdotal
Originally from Ethiopia, a country where many of the media organizations are government owned and operated, Gellaw is a graduate of Addis Ababa University and reports on issues regarding human rights and politics. After having experienced first-hand the atrocities that can occur within a country lacking complete freedom of speech and the press, Gellaw has since been exiled from Ethiopia and come to the U.S. as a Stanford University Knight Fellow, sponsored by Yahoo!. Despite being an advocate for human rights, Gellaw, who has written for several cyber media outlets, including Ethiomedia.com, strives to remain true to journalistic standards, saying that while he’s an activist, at the same time he’s objective. Before he gave his presentation to the class, he started off with Napolean Bonaparte’s quote, “The future destiny of a child is always the work of the mother.” Although he admitted that his mother was reluctant toward his desire to become a journalist because of the hazards he could have and eventually did face in Ethiopia, he continued to pursue his passion and it has paid off. With several honors and awards to his name, Gellaw gave credit to his mother for the journalist he is today, and it seems that Bonaparte’s quote rings true for this Knight Fellow.
