Much Ado About Amy Goodman, Glenn Greenwald, and the Importance of Independent Media

This short speech was made by Jeremy Stone at Tuesday's inaugural ceremony of the Izzy Awards for independent media -- named after legendary journalist I.F. "Izzy" Stone. Blogger Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! shared the award presented by Ithaca College's Park Center for Independent Media, which I head. -Jeff Cohen

REMARKS OF JEREMY STONE: When I first heard about an award for people who most "resembled" Izzy, I had high hopes that I might finally win a prize. Unfortunately, the selection committee appears to have been concerned with behavior.

Resembling Izzy in behavioral terms does not lead to an easy life. His capacity for thinking independently, and acting on principle, isolated him from just about everyone.

In the McCarthy era, because he spoke in defense of Jeffersonian principles, people were afraid to be seen with him. When he supported the rights of Palestinians, Jewish institutions would not invite him to speak. And when the National Press Club refused to serve his black guest lunch, he quit the club, isolating himself from his colleagues.

He said he was so happy in his work that he should be "arrested." But the consequence, for him, of speaking truth to power was loneliness.

Inevitably, the reward of such a man comes late. I.F. Stone knew this. He said: "I began as a pariah and then was treated as a gadfly. If I live long enough, I will become an institution." And indeed in his lifetime, he moved on to become an icon.