著名外國記者John F. Burns,約翰·F·伯恩斯逝世，享年81歲。「秉持公平公正的原則，並在報導引向意想不到的方向時摒棄傳統真理，一直是我們的黃金準則——而我和其他記者一樣，無疑也曾在某些時候，當我的激情以及周圍人的激情達到頂峰時，違背了這一準則，」

《紐約時報》著名外國記者約翰·F·伯恩斯逝世，享年81歲。

在他長達40年的職業生涯中，他曾兩次榮獲普立茲獎，報道世界各地的戰亂地區，以雄辯的筆觸描繪了戰爭的殘酷。

2002年，約翰·F·伯恩斯在阿富汗。 9·11事件後，他協調報道工作，並從喀布爾和巴基斯坦的伊斯蘭堡報道了戰爭。圖片來源：奧齊爾·穆罕默德/《紐約時報》

作者：艾倫‧考威爾

在中國被捕

1980年代，伯恩斯先生被派往中國。此前幾年，他於1975年從《多倫多環球郵報》加入《紐約時報》。他未經許可，騎摩托車深入中國內陸地區，行程1000英里。當時外國人被禁止進入這些地區。他被捕，並被控間諜罪——他對此指控嗤之以鼻，後來指控也被撤銷——隨後被驅逐出境。

「秉持公平公正的原則，並在報導引向意想不到的方向時摒棄傳統真理，一直是我們的黃金準則——而我和其他記者一樣，無疑也曾在某些時候，當我的激情以及周圍人的激情達到頂峰時，違背了這一準則，」伯恩斯先生寫道。

他對新一代記者提出了異議，他們認為這些記者標榜自己肩負著某種救世主般的使命，削弱了對公正客觀的堅持。

「在我們這個時代，年輕記者常常把『創造一個更美好的世界』作為他們的道德準則，甚至是他們選擇這個職業的理由，」伯恩斯先生寫道。 「這固然美好，但卻可能滋生一種傳教士情結——甚至是一種傲慢——這種情結會讓人為了他人的利益而對不利的事實視而不見。”

圖片

一張黑白照片，照片中年輕的約翰·伯恩斯穿著白襯衫、條紋領帶和卡其褲，舉起手臂致意。他旁邊走著一位低頭的男子，穿著軍裝，戴著軍帽。

伯恩斯先生於1986年在北京。他未經許可騎摩托車穿越中國中部1000英里後被捕。圖片來源：美聯社

“Niǔyuē shíbào” zhùmíng wàiguó jìzhě yuēhàn·F·bó ēn sī shìshì,

John F. Burns, Prize-winning Foreign Correspondent for The Times, Dies at 81

In a 40-year career that brought him two Pulitzers, he reported from trouble spots around the world, eloquently conveying the chaos of war.



John F. Burns in 2002 in Afghanistan. Following the attacks of Sept. 11, he coordinated coverage and reported on the war from Kabul and Islamabad, in Pakistan.Credit...Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times


By Alan Cowell




Arrested in China

Assigned to China in the 1980s, some years after he had joined The Times from the Toronto Globe and Mail in 1975, Mr. Burns embarked on an unauthorized 1,000-mile motorcycle journey into the hinterland, where foreigners were not permitted to travel. He was arrested, charged with espionage — a charge that he ridiculed and which was later dropped — and deported.

The commitment to fairness and balance and to shunning conventional truths when our reporting leads us in unexpected directions has been our gold standard — and one that I, like other reporters, undoubtedly failed on occasions when my passions, and the passions of those around me, ran at their highest,” Mr. Burns wrote.

He took issue with journalists of a newer generation, who professed what he considered a messianic calling that diluted the commitment to even-handedness.

“In our time, it has become common for young reporters to give as their moral code, indeed as their reason for choosing the profession, that they aim to create a better world,” Mr. Burns wrote. “It is a handsome thing, but one that can foster a missionary complex — a hubris, even — that can favor a blindness to inconvenient facts to the advantage of others.”

Image

Mr. Burns in Beijing in 1986. He took an unauthorized 1,000-mile motorcycle trip through central China and was arrested.Credit...Associated Press