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EMDASHES: PRESSED FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
By Emily Greenhouse
The Wesleyan Argus
Features - October 9, 2007
One year ago almost to the day, the Russian journalist Anna
Politkovskaya was found slain in her apartment building in Moscow,
shot through the head. For years, Politkovskaya's hard-hitting
investigative reporting had told stories of the brutality and
corruption of Russia's 'dirty war' in Chechnya that most of the
international media had ceased to write about. Through arrests, death
threats, and a near-poisoning--and in a media increasingly controlled
by the state and its oligarchs--the unflinching Politkovskaya never
slowed down.
Even at the time of her death, the 48-year-old Politkovskaya had been
reporting on the torture of Chechen civilians by pro-Moscow security
forces. Four days after her murder on October 7 of last year, the
independent Novaya Gazeta (Russia's leading opposition newspaper)
published her unfinished article, alongside pictures of the torture
victims.
Despite her international acclaim, there was no attempt made to
disguise Politkovskaya's murder. She was shot multiple times in
broad daylight, her body lying in the elevator of her apartment,
next to the assassin's pistol.
The Novaya Gazeta now knows the identity of Politkovskaya's assassin,
yet the man has been neither found nor arrested. Furthermore, Russian
prosecutors have not identified the person who ordered this contract
killing.
Politkovskaya was a shining example of courage in journalism, and her
unsolved case is singularly devastating. The murder of journalists,
however, is a story by no means unique to Russia. According to the
Committee to Protect Journalists, which keeps "detailed data on
journalists killed on duty as part of its mission of defending press
freedom," 636 journalists have been killed worldwide since 1992.
One-hundred fifteen journalists have been killed in Iraq since March
2003, and as of December 1, 2006, 134 journalists worldwide were
imprisoned (China, Cuba, Eritrea and Ethiopia being the top jailors).
A weekly glance through international news reports shows how
commonplace such abuse is. This past week, a 17-year-old admitted to
killing a well-known Turkish-Armenian journalist in January. Less than
two weeks ago, a Japanese journalist named Kenji Nagai was shot to
death in the crackdown by Myanmar's junta. Nagai, a photojournalist,
continued to take photographs from the ground, after being shot by a
Burmese soldier. In mid-August, two Somali journalists were killed in
Mogadishu, one fatally wounded as he drove back from the funeral of his
colleague at HornAfrik, who had been shot outside his office. Chauncey
Bailey, a journalist who had recently been named editor of The Oakland
Post (considered a prominent African-American publication), was shot
to death on August 2 on a downtown Oakland street.
Each year, numbers of journalists across the globe are arrested,
beaten, harassed, raped, kidnapped, exiled and murdered. But it's not
only through violence that freedom of the press is restrained--even
in this country.
When The New York Times published an article detailing
U.S. investigations into terror-financing activity last year,
President Bush called it "disgraceful," and Donald Rumsfeld claimed
the piece would "cause the loss of American lives." Right-wing pundits
discussed whether Bill Keller, the Executive Editor of the Times,
should be jailed, killed by firing squad or electrocuted by gas
chamber. Two-hundred twenty members of the House, including every
single Republican but one (Connecticut's own Christopher Shays,
actually), voted to condemn the paper for violation of the Espionage
Act of 1917.
As part of its crusade not to be held accountable for certain
actions, the Bush administration has made it exceedingly difficult for
reporters to do their job. During the few press conferences that Bush
actually holds, he often finds ways to dodge the most hard-hitting
questions. In skewing public broadcasting, in paying off pundits and
in deceptively delivering fake news on matters like Iraq (this does
not mean Jon Stewart), the administration seems contemptuous of the
Freedom of Information Act and what it stands for. Bush and co. are
all about gaining maximum access to information for themselves (see:
the Patriot Act) and denying it to the public.
U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and arm-candy-de-Brad Angelina Jolie was
right in "A Mighty Heart," her valiant attempt to raise awareness
about the kidnap and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel
Pearl. The assault on journalism does not just concern journalists.
We can critique The New York Times for its liberal (or conservative)
slant all we want and mock The New York Post or The Wall Street Journal
(especially considering the Murdoch-approaching reign), but the moment
we stop fighting for freedom of the press, we lose an important pillar
of democratic society.
For fighting against Russia's 'dirty war,'Anna Politkovskaya met
her end in the 'dirty war' against journalism. She was punished in
her quest for openness and accountability; Politkovskaya was killed
for doing her job. Her murder should be remembered, therefore, as
nothing more and nothing less than a testament to the power of the
written word.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is urging Russian President
Vladimir Putin to conduct an investigation that is "diligent,
transparent, and free of political influence." Politkovskaya's tale
deserves such an investigation, and Russia cannot afford to cast
aside the case without doing justice. Freedom of the press, after all,
is one casualty that we cannot afford.
By Emily Greenhouse
The Wesleyan Argus
Features - October 9, 2007
One year ago almost to the day, the Russian journalist Anna
Politkovskaya was found slain in her apartment building in Moscow,
shot through the head. For years, Politkovskaya's hard-hitting
investigative reporting had told stories of the brutality and
corruption of Russia's 'dirty war' in Chechnya that most of the
international media had ceased to write about. Through arrests, death
threats, and a near-poisoning--and in a media increasingly controlled
by the state and its oligarchs--the unflinching Politkovskaya never
slowed down.
Even at the time of her death, the 48-year-old Politkovskaya had been
reporting on the torture of Chechen civilians by pro-Moscow security
forces. Four days after her murder on October 7 of last year, the
independent Novaya Gazeta (Russia's leading opposition newspaper)
published her unfinished article, alongside pictures of the torture
victims.
Despite her international acclaim, there was no attempt made to
disguise Politkovskaya's murder. She was shot multiple times in
broad daylight, her body lying in the elevator of her apartment,
next to the assassin's pistol.
The Novaya Gazeta now knows the identity of Politkovskaya's assassin,
yet the man has been neither found nor arrested. Furthermore, Russian
prosecutors have not identified the person who ordered this contract
killing.
Politkovskaya was a shining example of courage in journalism, and her
unsolved case is singularly devastating. The murder of journalists,
however, is a story by no means unique to Russia. According to the
Committee to Protect Journalists, which keeps "detailed data on
journalists killed on duty as part of its mission of defending press
freedom," 636 journalists have been killed worldwide since 1992.
One-hundred fifteen journalists have been killed in Iraq since March
2003, and as of December 1, 2006, 134 journalists worldwide were
imprisoned (China, Cuba, Eritrea and Ethiopia being the top jailors).
A weekly glance through international news reports shows how
commonplace such abuse is. This past week, a 17-year-old admitted to
killing a well-known Turkish-Armenian journalist in January. Less than
two weeks ago, a Japanese journalist named Kenji Nagai was shot to
death in the crackdown by Myanmar's junta. Nagai, a photojournalist,
continued to take photographs from the ground, after being shot by a
Burmese soldier. In mid-August, two Somali journalists were killed in
Mogadishu, one fatally wounded as he drove back from the funeral of his
colleague at HornAfrik, who had been shot outside his office. Chauncey
Bailey, a journalist who had recently been named editor of The Oakland
Post (considered a prominent African-American publication), was shot
to death on August 2 on a downtown Oakland street.
Each year, numbers of journalists across the globe are arrested,
beaten, harassed, raped, kidnapped, exiled and murdered. But it's not
only through violence that freedom of the press is restrained--even
in this country.
When The New York Times published an article detailing
U.S. investigations into terror-financing activity last year,
President Bush called it "disgraceful," and Donald Rumsfeld claimed
the piece would "cause the loss of American lives." Right-wing pundits
discussed whether Bill Keller, the Executive Editor of the Times,
should be jailed, killed by firing squad or electrocuted by gas
chamber. Two-hundred twenty members of the House, including every
single Republican but one (Connecticut's own Christopher Shays,
actually), voted to condemn the paper for violation of the Espionage
Act of 1917.
As part of its crusade not to be held accountable for certain
actions, the Bush administration has made it exceedingly difficult for
reporters to do their job. During the few press conferences that Bush
actually holds, he often finds ways to dodge the most hard-hitting
questions. In skewing public broadcasting, in paying off pundits and
in deceptively delivering fake news on matters like Iraq (this does
not mean Jon Stewart), the administration seems contemptuous of the
Freedom of Information Act and what it stands for. Bush and co. are
all about gaining maximum access to information for themselves (see:
the Patriot Act) and denying it to the public.
U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and arm-candy-de-Brad Angelina Jolie was
right in "A Mighty Heart," her valiant attempt to raise awareness
about the kidnap and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel
Pearl. The assault on journalism does not just concern journalists.
We can critique The New York Times for its liberal (or conservative)
slant all we want and mock The New York Post or The Wall Street Journal
(especially considering the Murdoch-approaching reign), but the moment
we stop fighting for freedom of the press, we lose an important pillar
of democratic society.
For fighting against Russia's 'dirty war,'Anna Politkovskaya met
her end in the 'dirty war' against journalism. She was punished in
her quest for openness and accountability; Politkovskaya was killed
for doing her job. Her murder should be remembered, therefore, as
nothing more and nothing less than a testament to the power of the
written word.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is urging Russian President
Vladimir Putin to conduct an investigation that is "diligent,
transparent, and free of political influence." Politkovskaya's tale
deserves such an investigation, and Russia cannot afford to cast
aside the case without doing justice. Freedom of the press, after all,
is one casualty that we cannot afford.