As Freedom Retreats Worldwide, Journalism Is Getting More Dangerous Than Ever
The Americas saw the greatest degradation of journalistic freedom anywhere in the world last year, according to a recent report from The Associated Press. North Americans know full well that the state of oppression and violence in Mexico is dire, but El Salvador, Nicaragua and especially Venezuela have also reported that deaths and attacks are on the rise.
The situation in the Americas reflects a global trend in which the number of countries regarded as safe for journalists continues to decline, given the hostility expressed by political leaders, the AP wrote.
Although the West won the Cold War, the decades following saw freedom-loving sectors of human society take their eye off the ball and be lulled into a false sense of “all is well with the world,” while totalitarian regimes cracked down on freedom of the press to cement their hold on wealth and power.
In the United Kingdom, police in Northern Ireland have arrested two teenagers in connection with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee, reported the Financial Times reported, as “the Troubles” begin again in the British-controlled territory.
Of course, repression of the free press is well documented in the Russian Federation but has only become more serious as the Kremlin passed laws to restrict internet freedom; anyone who mocks government officials can now be fined and eventually put in prison.
The killing of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi intelligence operatives in Turkey last year brought the issue into focus for many. Even though Kashoggi can be more accurately described as a “dissident” than a journalist, the effect is the same.
“It’s not just [Crown Prince Salman],” Ali al-Ahmed, a Saudi exile and critic of the kingdom, told the Committee to Protect Journalists last year, Colombia Journalism Review reported. “The Saudi motto of operating is “no private enterprise in politics is allowed.” You can’t come and pretend you have some role to play. We are the only ones who can say, do or act in terms of politics. Anyone who crosses that line would be arrested.”
“If the political debate slides surreptitiously or openly toward a civil war-style atmosphere, in which journalists are treated as scapegoats, then democracy is in great danger,” said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general, Christophe Deloire.
One could make the case that this is exactly what is happening in the United States as we speak.
As shadow banning, de-platforming and slander fail to contain conservative alternative media from getting its message across to the American people as the left pushes its socialist agenda of control, expect violence to raise its ugly head here in the United States as a bastion of last resort for the fascist mob.
Real freedom of the press and freedom of speech is all that is standing between the Hillary Clinton’s of the world and our children’s future. I for one want my offspring to live in the same freedom I grew up in.
If you agree, join the fight and press your congressman for action of the censorship issue.
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