It has been a terrible
week for journalism — or maybe it is just one in a series of awful weeks, different
only because the sheer horror of what has taken place has forced its way into
the world’s headlines.
Should the details of the
disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi prove to be true — and the
evidence seems to be stacking up that it is — then we have reached new depths of
officially-sanctioned depravity in a world where previously unthinkable acts
are becoming commonplace.
It does appear that what
should have been a routine visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to collect
papers confirming his divorce ended in Khashoggi being detained, murdered, his
body dismembered and the parts spirited away.
The journalist, living in
exile, had been a critic of the Saudi regime, and its new strongman, Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who Khashoggi said had gathered too much power into
his own hands.
It seems that even this
relatively mild criticism incurred the wrath of the Crown Prince. The Saudi
Government has issued a ‘categorical denial’ it had anything to do with
Khashoggi’s disappearance, but will have to live with the fact increasing
numbers of people are no longer giving any value to such official statements.
At the same time investigations
are continuing into the rape and murder of Bulgarian television reporter
Viktoria Marinova in the northern town of Ruse.
An investigative
journalist, she was the host of a recent television program discussing alleged
fraud involving European Union funds, prominent businesspeople and government
officials.
Authorities have been quick
to say they believe the murder was unrelated to Marinova’s work, rather the act
of a common criminal in a chance encounter while she was out jogging. They said
a key suspect had left the country for Germany on the following day and were
seeking his extradition.
However, corruption is a
significant problem in Bulgaria – the worst in the European Union – and Marinova’s
murder has touched off debate about the freedom of the media in that country,
with journalists on the ground saying they are frequently harassed for writing
criticisms of the government.
It is appalling that this
should be happening in an EU country, even worse that it is the third such
incident involving journalists within the borders of the EU in the past year. It
seems that Brussels, beset with problems involving refugees and Brexit, is
giving insufficient attention to this escalating war against the media.
The two high profile
cases discussed here are but the tip of the iceberg. The Committee to Protect Journalists
has recorded 1322 deaths between 1992 and 2018 many simply because the news
gatherers were in the wrong place at the wrong time while on dangerous
assignments.
However, the committee
has found that 170 were deliberately murdered at the hands of government
officials in countries ranging from the Philippines to Russia.
Add to this the thousands
who have been harassed, beaten and jailed, and it is clear that it is not just
journalism and journalists under attack, but the very structures essential to
free and just societies.
American Founding Father
Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press,
and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
Gangsters and thugs, many
parading in high office, are doing their best to limit press freedom today. We
should all take note.
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