Yeganeh Salahi Rezaian, Iranian journalist spoke about freedom of the press to the WLP during a symposium event. Yegi is a very good story-teller and she shared some deeply moving events from her life. Read excerpts from three students reflections below.
Maggie Jones
Yegi spoke about how she was still able to write stories in her mind when she was in prison without paper. I found this really interesting. I would not have considered reflecting and writing stories in my head to be a form of storytelling before. From this I look away that I should never stop writing and storytelling- even if I must use a more nontraditional method.
Yegi`s stories reinforced my belief that we must be more grateful for our right to freedom of speech in America. Americans complain about their freedom of speech being taken away from them, while they have so much more freedom than people in other countries. This does not mean that we should just quietly accept what we have. Instead we should continue to fight for the freedom of speech in America and abroad. Overall, I really enjoyed the opportunity to hear from Mrs. Rezaian!
Shaye Kline
What impacted me the greatest from Yegi’s story was how evident it is that she loves her country, and very clearly misses it with all of her heart. This also connects to one of my biggest takeaways Yegi shared that she recognizes both Iran and the U.S. are not entirely good, but they are not entirely bad countries either. Yegi’s words struck me because just like her, while I see the bad that my country has - all of the racist, sexist, and economic issues that aren’t being solved - I also see that there is a lot of good and strength hidden throughout the U.S. that, while it isn’t being showcased as often, it is still there.
Yegi’s experiences truly emphasize the importance of the freedoms of speech, press, and journalistic integrity, because I feel that if there are people who desperately want to suppress those things, or keep them hidden in a way that will cause confusion, disinformation, and conflict then there is no question that these civil freedoms are very necessary and important. I feel having freedom of speech and freedom of the press along with journalistic integrity is not only a necessity, it is a right of the people.
Lydia McGlinn
I absolutely loved getting to hear Yegi's story. I admire her ability to look past herself and realize the importance of sharing her story even if it means she must relive her trauma. Something else that was very impactful was her love for her husband, Jason. I loved getting to hear her talk about how thinking of him could get her through even the darkest of times. Her dedication to him while he was still in prison was inspiring and really showed how important our interpersonal relationships are.
Hearing about Yegi’s experience really gave me an appreciation for the freedom of speech and freedom of press and journalism that we have in America. I feel like I often take these freedoms for granted and do not often think about them because it's never been something I've had to worry about. So Yegi’s story was very much a privilege check for me. It is very thought-provoking to look at someone who would risk their life and their freedom to ensure that people are getting the truth. This made me reflect on how various countries view journalism and how in America freedom of the press is a very common practice, however, it is not like that everywhere.