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P E R S P E C T I V E : G u e s t O p E d
The Free Press Is Under
Assault in America
The First Amendment inscribed on the façade of the recently shuttered Newseum in Washington, DC.
BY JUDY PATRICK
Within the journalism
community, there’s
outrage over the assaults
our fellow journalists
have endured covering the
unrest in America sparked by the
death of a Black man, George Floyd,
in police custody in Minneapolis.
We recognize that those reporters
are bearing witness to the events unfolding
before them. They are there
to hold those in power accountable
for their actions. Attacks on journalism
diminish the people’s right to the
truth about what government is doing
in their name. This is serious and
needs to be addressed.
But let’s be frank. Protesters, business
owners, and police offi cers are
being attacked as well. There’s plenty
of violence to go around, especially
when night falls.
America’s outrage is focused, as it
should be, on the racial injustices that
permeate our society. To seriously address
DAVID MONACK VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
these fundamental problems,
demonstrations and protests need to
be followed by lots of dialogue, education,
research, and real change.
Yet to be successful, the sun must
shine on that process. We need to
build understanding and consensus,
and for that we will need journalists
every step of the way. Without them,
we will fail.
The ongoing attacks on journalists
in America, especially by police,
is truly unprecedented. To be sure,
journalists in many other countries
face far more adversity. But this is
America, the leader of the free world,
where the free press is one of our fundamental
values and sets the standard.
Covering protests, especially chaotic
ones, has always been tough.
Reporters are used to getting jostled,
taunted, and sometimes threatened
with arrest. And while the level of aggression
has been increasing in the
last decade, the number of attacks of
the past few days are far beyond anything
we have ever seen before.
The US Press Freedom Tracker, run
by the Freedom of the Press Foundation
and the Committee to Protect
Journalists, typically investigates
100 to 150 incidents of attacks on US
journalists a year. On Monday, the
group was investigating more than
100 incidents from the fi rst three
days of the current protests alone.
Journalists don’t like becoming
part of the story. It’s a distraction
from the central story, which in this
case is the unprecedented display of
national outrage sparked by systemic
racial discrimination.
But it is because the central story
is so important that these shameful
attacks must be called out and
denounced. Other countries may be
able to control and limit their press
by intimidation and violence but that
can’t be allowed to happen here in
America.
Journalists are getting pushed and
shoved, shot by rubber bullets and
pepper balls, assaulted with pepper
spray and tear gas, punched, slapped,
detained, and arrested. Some of this
is happening live on air, before our
eyes.
The danger can come from either
direction. Some protesters are targeting
journalists, hurling rocks and
other debris at them, knocking them
down, beating them and setting their
vehicles on fi re.
Why this is happening should be
no big surprise. Since taking offi ce,
President Donald Trump has put a
big fat “enemy of the people” stamp
on every journalist’s forehead. He affi
rmed it with a tweet at the height of
the protests this past weekend. He’s
done more than give the attackers license
to act; he’s emboldened them.
This is about far more than journalists’
personal safety. This is about
democracy. This is about the public’s
right to know. This is about an institution
that, despite its lapses, strives
to help us build a better society.
Judy Patrick is vice president for editorial
content at the New York Press Association
(nynewspapers.com), a trade
organizations for hundreds of the
state’s community newspapers.
June 04 - June 17, 2 22 020 | GayCityNews.com
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