Download issue (PDF) - Nieman Foundation - Harvard University

21st Century MuckrakersFatima Tlisova witnessed the injustice of villagers being poisoned by pollutionfrom a nuclear lab nearby; she reported their story in a place where journalistsrisk their lives for sharing truths considered harmful to those in power. When shelearned about displaced people confined to a camp for 14 years, she took photographsof their Russian passports to display the empty space where official stampsshould be.As an investigative journalist in the North Caucasus region of Russia, Tlisova’sseries of reports about poisoned villagers, in time, persuaded the government toThe Lyons Award plaque for Tlisova is inscribedwith the words: “Fatima Tlisova,Independent Journalist, For bearing witness tothe hidden truths of a violent place.” Photo byKane Hsieh.bring medical care. In letters writtento her, Tlisova found out that stampsrefused for 14 years now had beengiven, and these people were homelessno longer.“Tonight we bear witness to thewidowed mother of two who throughsheer excellence of her craft shed lighton this place,” said David Jackson, aChicago Tribune investigative reporterand 2009 Nieman Fellow, in bestowingthe Nieman Foundation’s 29thLouis M. Lyons Award for Conscienceand Integrity in Journalism honorson Nieman classmate Fatima Tlisova.He described Tlisova as a reporter“who packed her crisp, dispassionateAP reports with irrefutable detail. Whose hand-held video camera cast its ghostlylight across a truckload of entwined corpses. Who reported being abducted bylocal officers of the Federal Security Service, dragged by her hair into the woods.Had her fingertips burned with cigarettes ‘so that you can write better.’ Who, onepanicked day, finally located her 16-year-old son in the custody of local police—drunken thugs in uniforms, men with guns and secret lists.”As Niemans, Tlisova observed, “We had many conversations on journalism andits future. Is it really worth all the sacrifices we have to make? Do people reallyneed what we do?” In response, she gave examples of what happened becauseshe’d borne witness, a few described above. “Fifty-eight prisoners in Nalchik [acity in the Caucasus region] told their lawyers that the torture ended after I publishedphotos that were taken soon after the arrest with all the horrible signs ofelectrocution and other types of torture.” There were others who, she said, “decidedthe situation is too dangerous or too hopeless. We have to try anyway. Myanswer to all those journalistic questions is—yes.”As the myriad of stories in this section will reveal, “yes” is still the journalisticanswer for many reporters today. —Melissa LudtkeNieman Reports | Summer 2009 49