Hold on to your hats folks, because we’ve got a real knee-slapper for you today. Despite Ukraine’s recent, shall we say, “unscheduled visitors,” one thing is no laughing matter: the killings of 14 journalists and media workers that have since been confirmed there. Yeesh, talk about a punchline that falls flat.
It’s like a “knock-knock” joke with no follow-up. Anyway, that’s not the only serious thing going on in the world of journalism. A new record number of journalists have been imprisoned, including Wall Street Journal’s own Evan Gershkovich. He’s currently in custody for “sham charges.” That’s not funny, that’s just messed up.
Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., the publisher and chairman of the New York Times Company, said the vision of journalists supporting human rights and free societies is “at great risk” these days. It’s all because of autocrats using censorship, media repression, and attacking journalists to nab more control. And as Arthur says, “Gaining control of information is essential to gaining control of everything else.” Man, these guys are like stand-up comedians. Only, you know, not really.
Arthur added that he doesn’t have the most optimistic outlook overall when it comes to the deterioration of press freedom around the world. Even countries with strong press freedom (shoutout to the U.S.A!) are facing systematic campaigns to undermine credibility and legal protection for journalists. It’s kind of like a roast, but no one’s laughing. Not even a little.
In Russia, apparently even acknowledging the war in Ukraine can land you in prison for a long time. That’s not just dark, that’s a full black-out. As of December 1st, the committee found that 363 reporters were behind bars, which is a new global high that surpasses the previous record by 20%. This is like one of those sad clown acts. Except, again, not really.
Evan Gershkovich has been detained since late March while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg. He’s been charged with espionage (for bogus reasons, he and the U.S. say). The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post teamed up and ran full-page ads last week calling it “the latest in a disturbing trend where journalists are harassed, arrested or worse for reporting the news.” Even worse than a bad pun.
Almar Latour, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, said at an event held at the U.N. General Assembly Hall that Evan’s detention “has been a gut punch” for his colleagues and is having a chilling effect throughout the industry. Yikes, sounds like the punchline is that there is no punchline.
But Arthur says there is some hope. Four journalists who have been detained in their countries or abroad: Maria Ressa in the Philippines, José Rubén Zamora in Guatemala, Pape Alé Niang in Senegal, and Austin Tice in Syria, are providing some inspiration. Even in the face of a worldwide assault on journalists and their work, Arthur thinks change can come if the nations take action. So there you have it folks, a real laugh riot.
Serious News: nytimes
