Press Freedom in America and the World
The Covid-19 crisis has resulted in a crisis for journalists in America and throughout the world — not just because of the disease but because authorities have used it as an excuse to attack journalists everywhere. The other cause of the crisis? Donald Trump.
A series of recently released reports document the crises (yes, plural) facing journalists today. The headlines from two of the reports shows the stark similarity between what’s happening here in the U.S. and internationally.
The report from the Freedom of the Press Foundation contains one particular factoid that sums up the situation here in America in a shocking way: “In just one week, from May 29 — June 4, more reporters were arrested in the U.S. than in the previous three years combined.”
The other report from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) lays much of the blame at the foot of one person: “President Donald Trump has inexhaustibly denigrated the press and cozied up to dictators (and that) has perpetuated the crisis.”
The CPJ report says Trump’s continuous attacks on the news media as “fake news” has resonated with dictators around the world and provided them the excuse to further attack reporters. A total of 34 reporters have been arrested for spreading “false news.” Last year 31 were arrested on that bogus charge.
The other “excuse” was the Covid/ Coronavirus crisis. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports that the number of arrests quadrupled from March of 2020, when the crisis began to get attention, to May of 2020 when it reached its first peak. According to RSF: “State of exception laws and emergency measures adopted in much of the world to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic visibly contributed to a ‘news and information lockdown’ and resulted in journalists being arrested and sometimes jailed.”
The worst countries in terms of attacks on journalists, according to both RSF and CPJ, are China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. To that, RSF would add Vietnam and Syria while CPJ would add Turkey. To all that, one might add the United States of America. Here’s some factoids that would justify that charge:
— 387 journalists were either arrested or detained around the world, according to RSF.
— 120 journalists were either arrested or detained in the United States, according to the Press Freedom Tracker.
Nearly a third as many reporters were arrested or detained in the United States as were arrested or detained in the whole of the rest of the world’s dictatorships and oligarchies. While some of those countries used the Covid ‘excuse,’ in America the excuses were centered on the various protests with reporters being charged with violating curfew orders, failing to distance, disturbing the peace and resisting or obstructing police.
(It should be noted that despite the many attacks by police on reporters, not a single police officer has been charged.)
There appears to be little doubt that the over-reaction of some of the police was encouraged tacitly but implicitly by Donald Trump. However, to keep all this in perspective, it should be made clear that while the situation for journalists in America has clearly gotten worse during the Trump presidency, the situation in many parts of the world is far, far worse.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported 274 journalists were in jails around the world. In many instances, the journalists have not been heard from for months and even years. They have been held incommunicado, with family and friends uncertain about their fate. The unfortunate distinction of longest-held journalist goes to Swedish reporter Dawit Isaak who has been held in prison in Eritrea since 2001. His family has not hear from him since 2005.
In addition three journalists have died from Covid-19 while in jail. And four journalists have, as RSF put it, simply — “gone missing.”
Women journalists in particular are seeing increased number of attacks. Reporters Without Borders found that the number of women journalists being “detained” has increased 35% over the past year. The Committee to Protect Journalists found that 13% of the journalists in jail are women. But the challenges to women journalists extend even further.
This report by the International Center for Journalists in cooperation with UNESCO found that the primary problem comes online with three out of four women reporting they had experienced “online violence.” Even more disturbing is that the online violence leads to “offline incidents” with one in five reporting they had either been attacked or abused.
Underlying many of those attacks is a clearly misogynistic attitude based on their gender (47%) with much of the problem coming from “anonymous or unknown attackers” (57%).
So, what’s to be done about all this? Well, the departure of Donald Trump with his constant attacks on the news media may help although that is uncertain, especially if the media continues to provide him a megaphone. Two reports show that the problem is much more cancerous than the one tumor that is Trump.
A survey by Gallup showed Republicans most particularly have very little faith in the news media. Not too surprisingly the level of trust by Republicans fell to its lowest level on record in 2016 (32%) when Trump began his run for the presidency. And it has remained that low ever since, while Democrats’ trust has risen and Independents have held steady.
A report by the Knight Foundation is possibly even more disturbing. More than half (58%) of Republicans surveyed believe the attacks on the news media are justified. Most Democrats (66%) believe the attacks are not justified. Somewhat disturbingly, about a third of Independents (34%) believe they are justified and a little more than a third (39%) believe they are not. (I don’t believe that in these contexts ‘attack’ means physical attacks, most likely verbal attacks.)
There is an old joke that some of the scariest words spoken goes, “Trust me, I’m from the Government.” President Ronald Reagan made it into the nine most dangerous words: “I’m from the Government. And I’m here to help.” Well, the cynicism towards the government is matched by the cynicism towards the news media. Somehow the news media has to earn back the public’s trust and, I would suggest, by actually helping — helping people under the truth in what they’re reporting and the honesty in how they report it.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has issued a series of recommendations for the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden designed to restore America’s leadership role around the world in terms of press freedom. The group makes the argument that such a leadership role would enhance America’s strategic, political and economic role in the world. It calls on the incoming administration to make press freedom a priority. It recommends working with such groups in America and around the world and, most importantly, to create a special Presidential envoy for Press Freedom.
ADDENDUM:
Amnesty International has made press freedom part of its core values and issues. On its website it cited the 19th Amendment to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The similarities between it and The First Amendment that is part of our U.S. Constitution is striking and I thought I would share the two.
