--Vladimir Lenin,
Russian dictator
Some people are actually dying for a free press.
Twenty eight journalists so far in 2018. Women and men who
went out one day to investigate a drug dealer, or learn more about official
corruption, who wrote a critical opinion piece about a president or dared to challenge
in print some religious or social orthodoxy. They did their jobs: took pen to
paper, pecked away on a keyboard, met an anonymous source on a lonely street
corner, stood up in front of the cameras as the bombs fell and the protests
rang out. And then they died. They were murdered by people and powers
threatened by the freedom to report the news.
Most of these deaths happened in nations we would expect to
be hostile to press freedom, places of terror and repressive governments,
nations torn apart by war or drugs, societies where the ideal of true freedom
of the press is a myth. Ten journalists died in Afghanistan,
four in Mexico, and one each
in Columbia, Syria
and Libya.
But so too: journalists in India,
Slovakia and Brazil died and four journalists in the United States as
well. Last June 28th, in what police called a targeted attack, a gunman walked
into the offices of the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland
and opened fire. The shooter was angry about a story written about him and so
he killed those he deemed "guilty", with a loaded shotgun.
The 28th death of 2018 has yet to be officially confirmed as
a murder but it may turn out to be the most infamous and gruesome of the year,
the recent passing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. On October 2nd, he walked into the Saudi
Arabian consulate in Istanbul,
Turkey and was
never seen again. The fact that Khashsoggi was critical in print and public of
the murderous and misogynistic monarchy that rules Saudi Arabia, led directly to his disappearance.
Some reports say Khashoggi was tortured first and then killed, his body
dismembered for quick and secret disposal.
Some people are actually dying for a free press.
And being jailed. And
being arrested and held without charges. And receiving death threats. And this
all while toiling away in a craft that is mostly anonymous and filled with the
drudge work of tracking down leads and working for months and months on a story
that might not pan out and most of the time not being paid much for the work
either. But these journalists continue
to do their work. To bring light into the dark corners of human behavior. To expose the hypocrisy and corruption of
political leaders. To be the watchdog of
government, keeping check on the cruel and the clueless, the power hungry and ego
driven we too often elect to high office these days.
These journalists are able to work in freedom in the United States
because freedom of the press is guaranteed by the Constitution and the rule of
law. This in spite of the fact that in
2018 it's fashionable and vote worthy to call journalists "the enemy of
the people". To threaten
journalists with physical harm. To deride any critical story as "fake
news" and any laudatory story as "the real story".
I completely own my bias in support of journalists and journalism,
having written for newspapers for much of the past twenty five years. Guilty as
charged. Are there clowns and trolls, yellow journalists and trashy news
purveyors among the ranks of working journalists? Yes. Is news sometimes
slanted left or right? Absolutely. It's always been so. Freedom of the press
means we get it all: good news, bad news, real news, bias news and false news.
Our job then as free and informed people is to sift through it all and get to
the truth. Not easy but so vital to democracy. Thank God I live in a land where
that is still possible.
Some people are actually dying for a free press.
We need to remember this truth and tragedy. The press are
not the enemies of the people. At its best the press is courageous and
committed, and maybe the last hope for holding the powerful to account. A
free press reminds all kings, both the enthroned and the self-appointed, that
the people and not the princes, are what makes a nation truly great and a
nation truly free.
But no free press? What is that like? Just ask the people of
Saudi Arabia.
Well said, John Hudson. How true, how sad that we have a president who attacks our freedoms as a means to shore himself up, but how much sadder that so much of the populace is so ill-informed about the role of the press in a democratic society. I'm reminded of a large group exercise in which the group is divided into smaller groups that are then secluded from each other. There's a task and a goal, but all the information is provided by the "authorities." It's not until the exercise is over that the groups realize how controlled they were by the information fed to them. I wish people today understood the dangers of having the people in control also the purveyors of information without anyone outside their circle watching and reporting. You're so right, John. I hope your message rings out. For the record, I'm also a journalist.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words Jennie and good luck in your work! Keep at it--it matters.
DeleteWell, in my opinion, the on-sided US Press is just like that story you cite where the information is controlled, with very little self-monitoring. I believe that most people clearly understand the role of the press in a free society, they simply want a press that is not so one-sided in their views and coverage.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Bob. I too think most Americans do want a balanced approach to the news. I also think there are very good news outlets that are trustworthy and fair.
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