{"id":50259,"date":"2018-09-27T14:04:31","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T18:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=50259"},"modified":"2025-10-17T11:14:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T15:14:29","slug":"carol-off-helping-sources","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/carol-off-helping-sources\/","title":{"rendered":"Carol Off Helping Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carol Off Helping Sources\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

In a time when even the most principled journalists are sometimes accused of vested interests, Carol Off wanted to make one thing very clear.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“To be in favour of human rights \u2014 of human dignity, the protection of children, the lives and welfare of people \u2014 is not to have a bias.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On Sept. 25, 2018, the veteran reporter and longtime host of CBC Radio’s As It Happens<\/a><\/em> delivered the 19th<\/sup> annual Kesterton Lecture<\/a>. Her talk, titled Taking Sides: Journalists, Sources, and Crossing the Line, <\/em>addressed working journalists, students and fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Created in honour of media law and journalism history expert, Wilfred Kesterton, who was integral in establishing the School of Journalism and Communication<\/a>, the event celebrates journalism education in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carol
Prof. Susan Harada, associate director of the School of Journalism and Communication, introduces Carol Off.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Off examined the complexities of journalistic ethics surrounding sources. Her coverage of conflict all over the world \u2014 in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America \u2014 regularly forced her to make difficult decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Macedonia, during the Kosovo War, Off and her team interviewed some of the tens of thousands of Albanians fleeing massacre.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“Various governments, including Canada’s, are debating whether or not to intervene in Kosovo, to send troops,” she said, putting her rapt audience in the moment.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

“But they’re not really sure what’s going on. Inside Kosovo, we have documented ethnic cleansing. This reporting could tip the balance.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They gave the refugees food and water they could spare, but the Albanians wanted to use their cell phones to find their loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They have life and death issues,” she said. “We need our battery power for our stories. What’s the priority?”<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carol<\/figure>\n\n\n

When Does Humanity Supersede Journalism?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Her lecture was peppered with questions that chipped away at the issue: How far do you go to protect a source? When do you put down the camera and the notebook? When does humanity supersede journalism?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout her career exposing unethical practices and covering atrocities, Off wanted to intervene multiple times. However, except in moments when she could be helpful without interfering in the story, she stay focused on the task at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her entire perspective changed in 2008, when she ran into an old source in Islamabad. Asad Aryubwal, an Afghan wholesale business owner who had been the backbone of her 2002 CBC documentary about the country’s violent warlords. He exposed the ruthlessness of Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, knowing full well the danger of his disclosure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He told me that if he had not spoken out against the warlord, against injustice, he would never be able to look into the eyes of his children again,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carol<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Aryubwal, his wife, and five children were threatened with violence after the documentary aired. Years later, Off followed up with him as a source to report that the warlords still terrorized the region. The second documentary aired and the Aryubwals were given two options: leave or die.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“Almost by chance, I found Asad living in exile in Pakistan,” said Off.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

“His life was in ruins, he was impoverished, fearing for his life. His family had no future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I decided at that moment that I was going to get him out of the mess I had put him in.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a question and answer session moderated by CTV Ottawa Bureau Joyce Napier, Off said the situation was a unique experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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