Nation TV coverage of Ketan Somaia’s former bank manager, Jason Wellington Oluga, as he drove to freedom on Thursday must have left mouths dry. The tactics used were a sharp reminder of what they don’t teach even at the world’s toughest journalism school.

Hear it from the horse’s mouth.

This year, Nazanin Rafsanjani, from Tehran, is among fledging journalists who come knocking at the doors of Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

"From a young age," she told school officials, "I’ve always wanted to understand people’s stories and shed light on areas that may not be seen or heard without my voice." Those words got onto immortal-looking cards, now dispatched to all former students.

They never lock the doors of that school, except for Christmas day. So every morning, throughout the day, and even late at night, Nazanin walks through the lobby to catch the old elevator to broadcast suites, digital darkrooms, and her professors’ offices. But it is some words she walks past at the lobby that stand out.

They read: "The power to mould the future of the republic will be in the hands of the journalists of the future generations."

Those words were written by Joseph Pulitzer, the proverbial father of modern journalism, in an article for the North American Review way back in 1904. And someone decided to immortalise these words on the marble floors of the school of journalism at Columbia, founded by Pulitzer in 1912.

One hundred years have passed since Pulitzer wrote those words. But it is impossible not to be moved by the man’s limitless faith in the possibilities of journalism.

Those who truly know, are aware how journalism can make or break societies. This is the reason journalism training at Columbia is kind of a baptism of fire, no matter who comes knocking. The first task there is to break you, then build you up. Noel Pangalinan, my old classmate, may have been editor in chief of a Manila-based daily for the better part of his 16 years at the newspaper. But, when he showed up at Columbia, nobody cared. Noel wound up the year looking ten years older. But he spoke of a rejuvenated spirit for journalism.

Ken Kostel is now the science writer for the Earth Institute at Columbia University. His director and special advisor to Kofi Annan, Jeffery Sachs, is about to dispatch him to Nairobi, to find out if the UN Millennium Development Goals can be met at the local level. Clearly, my old classmate is now a big shot, as he indicated to me in an email this week. But when Ken came to the j’school, nobody really cared that he was doing a double Masters that included Environmental Science. He was just a journalist.

And Seema Gupta, from Singapore, came in with a wealth of technical know-how in TV broadcasting and thought all she needed was to learn how to do great documentaries. That’s what she told guys. But her professors promptly told her to first forget the camera. She’d first hit the streets with only her notebook and pencil. Of course, she needed a good pair of sensible shoes. Seema first needed to learn how to effectively engage citizens, without repulsing them. That was the key to effective reporting. And that, her professors told her, was the foundation of all journalism.

At this school, they teach you to begin by showing respect for the job. "Wear a goddamn tie," Prof Sandy Padwe, current administrator of the Pulitzer Prize, is heard yelling all the time. But above all, the fear of God is put into journalists who tend to forget decorum. "Be firm," says Prof Helen Benedict, "but be polite. Politeness will get you a long way."

True, the behavioral sciences teach that people will be more receptive to politeness, rather than rude approaches. A dignified, friendly approach will disarm even the most stonewall characters.

This, it must be said, is not the kind of picture Kenya saw Thursday night on Nation TV. The courts had decided that Oluga, who had been jailed for fraud with tycoon Somaia, had paid his debt to society. Now, like in the movies, the country watched reporters in hot pursuit of a man already in a wheelchair. It was evident Oluga had made it clear he wasn’t ready, yet, to talk. True, that has never stopped journalists. But reporters who care about decorum will seriously weigh "the need to know" versus individual rights for space. Yes, for reasons no one else can understand, only reporters seem to delight in the picture of an old man reduced to propping up a pillow in his own car to shield his face from an intrusive public audience. But, surely, nothing warranted the indignity of a gate being forcibly closed on a reporters’ car that attempted to stubbornly barge into private compound.

Journalism is about telling people’s stories. Who put it into our reporters’ heads that great stories must always be pulled, like teeth, from reluctant sources?

No one said compassionate journalism cannot be effective journalism. Nobody will give a hoot, really, if all you bring to the trade is showoff, a false sense of importance and paparazzi traits. No. Compassionate journalism is enough power to mould the future of the republic.