In the midst of student protests early in her career as a journalist in Iran, Roxana Saberi found herself in a bind.

Her press credentials had been revoked. Her boss, back in the United States, wanted a story. And Saberi felt compelled to tell the world about what was happening behind the Persian curtain.

Saberi turned to other Iranian journalists for advice. Some believed their job was to push the envelope only as far as the government would allow -- others were willing to risk everything to write the first draft of Iran's history.

But it wasn't until Saberi was arrested and charged -- wrongly, she maintains -- with spying for the United States that she knew where she stood.

"I didn't realize the value of freedom until I was deprived of it," Saberi said.

Sitting beside esteemed National Public Radio commentator Daniel Schorr at Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School in Salt Lake City as part of the McCarthey Family Foundation Lecture Series, Saberi said that it is important for journalists to press onward, even in the face of possible personal sacrifice.

After her credentials were revoked, Saberi said, she tried to find a balance reporting what was useful versus what was lawful.

But, she noted, "in some countries, the laws are not clear or they are very arbitrary."

Schorr -- who, at 93, is 61 years Saberi's senior -- said that despite the circumstances his younger colleague faced and even more dire penalties

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faced by journalists around the world, "somehow we still find people who, despite the circumstances, fight to tell people what they need to know."

Reflecting on his time at CBS-TV -- a period in which his name appeared on President Richard Nixon's infamous "enemies list" and was investigated by the FBI -- Schorr said that the freedom of the press is constantly under attack.

"If even in America a president can conspire," against reporters, "then God knows what happens" in other nations, he said.

And Schorr said press freedoms were at risk not only from oppressive governments and powerful leaders. After a few contemplative pauses, Schorr told -- for the first time, he said -- of instances in which CBS president William Paley had made deals to provide press credentials to undercover CIA agents and, under government pressure, limited discourse about Watergate.

"What do you do when you are trying to serve a press and find out that the enemy is your employer?" Schorr asked before lamenting a world in which business motives often affect news decisions.

And yet, the venerable newsman concluded, "this is a cherished profession."

mlaplante@sltrib.com