I wonder how many people know that yesterday, November 2, was “International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.”
The State Department did, but forgot to tell Trump about it.
In 2013, The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming 2 November as the “International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists” (IDEI).
“The Resolution urged Member States to implement definite measures countering the present culture of impunity. The date was chosen in commemoration of the assassination of two French journalists in Mali on 2 November 2013.”
The Resolution “Condemns unequivocally all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers, such as torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, as well as intimidation and harassment in both conflict and non – conflict situations…”
The landmark resolution also urges states to “promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently and without undue interference”.
Furthermore, the Jakarta Declaration adopted by 1500 participants at the global celebration of the 2017 World Press Freedom Day, underlined “the importance, for democratic civic and political life, of high-quality public-interest journalism, including investigative journalism, respecting professional and ethical standards and enjoying protection of confidentiality of sources, and recogniz[es] that such journalism represents a public good for all members of society”.
In a statement on IDEI, France Diplomatie expands:
“Defending the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression, protecting journalists, and combating impunity for those who attack these fundamental principles are foreign policy priorities for France.”
And adds:
“Media pluralism, the right to inform or to be informed, notably on the Internet, as well as the ability to express critical views are crucial to democratic debate. Journalists and all media professionals help defend these fundamental liberties.”
In a press statement, our own State Department lauds the work of journalists around the world who “shine a light on abuses and corruption, expose threats posed by transnational criminal organizations, and counter disinformation and propaganda that spread false narratives.” State adds, “These efforts play an indispensable role in the healthy functioning of our own democracy and also underpin democratic values around the world.”
After citing examples of nations – Russia, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Turkey, etc. – where “journalists are often under threat from those who wish to silence them. In too many parts of the world, crimes against journalists go unpunished” — State concludes:
“On International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the United States renews its dedication to promoting a free, professional, and independent press abroad, and to advocating for accountability for those who would undermine a free press with threats, intimidation, and violence.”
While in the United States we have not (yet) seen crimes of such a scale as “torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention,” it can be argued that part of the State Department’s rhetoric “promoting a free, professional and independent press” and criticizing “disinformation and propaganda that spread false narratives,” sounds hollow and hypocritical considering the Trump administration’s recent attacks on our own free press, media, jurnalists and on the First Amendment.
Here are just a few of the more recent “headlines”:
CNN, October 11:
“[Trump has] suggested that the press doesn’t really like America. He has said the media is the ‘enemy of the American people.’ He has repeatedly called journalists the ‘most dishonest’ people. He has worked to paint news stories he doesn’t like as ‘fake’ — and claimed he created that term.
But he’s never gone as far as he did on Wednesday morning when he tweeted this: ‘With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!'”
“President Trump’s disregard for a free press just reached a new low: He’s urging the Senate Intelligence Committee to investigate American news outlets for publishing ‘fake’ stories.”
“U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of journalists amounts to an attack on the freedom of the press and could provoke violence against reporters, the United Nations’ human rights chief said on Wednesday.”
San Francisco Chronicle, April 25, 2017:
“Last Sunday morning, Donald Trump seemed to promote violence against CNN.
He tweeted an old video clip of him performing in a WWE professional wrestling match, with a CNN logo superimposed on the head of his opponent. Trump is shown slamming the CNN avatar to the ground and pounding him with punches and elbows to the head. Trump added the hashtags #FraudNewsCNN and #FNN, for ‘fraud news network.’”
Of course, Trump’s vicious anti-press rhetoric already became infamous during his campaign. But, as the New York Times puts it, every time you think it can’t get worse, “he finds a way of surprising you…manages to outdo himself,” as in, “Trump Takes Aim at the Press, With a Flamethrower.”
Lead image – Credit UNESCO
