“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the facts.
Background Details
The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)
The US intelligence services were not the only ones to determine the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.
International Response
For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed penalties and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.
White House Remarks
Opponents of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”
Established Conduct
This marks a new and abject point for a president who has made little secret of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.
He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at home and vital independent media internationally.
Wider Consequences
All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).
It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.
In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.
Effect on Society
The effect on society is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.
On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. My message at the event is the same as my one for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.
