By Joel Simon/CPJ Executive Director and Alexandra Ellerbeck/Senior US Research Associate,
For decades if not longer, repressive leaders around the world have defended restrictions on freedom of the press by citing examples of Western governments failing to live by their own professed standards.
So when, in late-2016, Canadian photojournalist Ed Ou was unable to report from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests because he had been barred from entering the United States, the Turkish government issued a press release describing it as yet another example that in countries that frequently criticize Turkey for its treatment of the press, “journalism is not as rose-tinted as it may seem.” Ou, who one year earlier had been blocked by Turkey from entering that country, said he “didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.”
Although the Ou incident took place during the waning days of the Obama Administration, throughout the first 100 days of the presidency of Donald J. Trump — a man who loves to disparage, insult, and rail against the media — the trend has continued. President Trump’s oft-tweeted “fake news” epithet, for example, has already been adopted by repressive governments such as China, Syria, and Russia. And when Trump attacked a correspondent during a February press conference, he was cheered by Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the world’s worst jailer of journalists, according to CPJ’s annual global imprisoned census.
Of course, all U.S. presidents complain about how they’re treated in the press. Some have gone further: During Obama’s first term, the Department of Justice used the Espionage Act to conduct an unprecedented number of leak investigations, several of which ensnared journalists. Generally, however, U.S. presidents have criticized the media while also acknowledging the essential role of a free press in American democracy, and while pledging to uphold the First Amendment.
Contact:
Carlos Lauria
Americas Senior Program Coordinator
Tel. +1.212.300.9009
Email: clauria@cpj.org
Alexandra Ellerbeck
Senior US and Americas Researcher
Tel. +1.212.300.9015
Email: aellerbeck@cpj.org