ROBERT FISK, the Independent's Middle East correspondent, was last night honoured by Trinity College Dublin's Historical Society for his outstanding contribution to public discourse.
Mr Fisk received a gold medal from the debating society, awarded to those who have made a significant contribution in the public sphere towards forwarding the society's ideals of debate, discussion and public discourse.
Past recipients of the medal have included Bram Stoker, Isaac Butt, former South African president FW de Klerk and Sir Salman Rushdie.
In his short acceptance speech Mr Fisk said "the medal has previously been presented to all famous people, now it goes to the first infamous person as many of my critics would say".
After accepting the award, he gave a lecture on his experiences in the Middle East and newspaper coverage of the current Gaza crisis. Fisk criticised coverage of the conflict for giving equal say to both sides, despite a "grotesque disproportion in deaths".
"The idea of a journalist giving both sides equal space is nonsense, journalists should be on the side of those who suffer," he said. "If we were reporting on a German concentration camp we would not give equal time to an SS spokesperson."
The Iranian army isn't in London, the Egyptian army isn't in Dublin, it's our armies that are there, theirs aren't here, he told an audience of more than 150 students, saying "militarily we the West must get out of the Middle East, it is not our land".
Fisk has worked as a foreign correspondent for more than 30 years, covering the Iranian revolution and the Iraq-Iran war among others. He was the first westerner on the scene for the Sabra, Chatila and Qana massacres and one of the few western journalists who has interviewed Osama bin Laden.