By Duncan Baumgarten On June 26, 1996, a motorcyclist pulled up alongside Irish journalist Veronica Guerin’s ruby red car. They proceeded to shoot Guerin six times, both in the head and in the back, showering the car and the street with shattered glass. This was not the first attempt on her life, but it would be the last, leaving her dead on the M7 motorway in Ireland. Guerin had been reporting on the effects of the heroin crisis within Ireland, tracking down kingpins and sellers for more than two years. She had received threats of both legal action, and physical violence, towards both her and her son. She had been previously shot in the leg at her residence by another masked gunman, instructed to shoot to kill by crime boss John Gilligan.
On February 22, 2012, foreign correspondent Marie Colvin was discovered to be inside the journalist-exclusionary Syria, within the city of Homs, after going on air for CNN. She publicly condemned the actions of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, and described the death, the torture, the violence that she had seen within her time in the civil-war torn country. She was discovered a few hours later by the militia occupying the city, and a mortar brought the ceiling of her hideaway down on her. She died instantly. What do these cases have in common? Women being stalked, attacked, threatened, and murdered for doing their job: reporting the truth. Organizations, from narcotic sales to national governments, finding displeasure and anger within the words of these women. Those same organizations seek out the journalists, and silence them. What do these cases mean in 2018? Things have not changed. If anything, the brutality and the murder towards journalists has escalated to an all-time high, not at all helped by the seemingly international condemnation towards those who attempt to seek out and share the truth as they see it. America had always been fairly exempt from the equation, leaving the violence to war-torn countries and dictatorships. They can’t claim that status anymore. With the at best biased, at worst universally hateful, view of the media, the US Government has joined the ranks of Syria, Afghanistan, Mexico, Yemen, and India. 80 journalists were killed in 2018 worldwide, with 49 murdered or targeted. Six journalist were killed in the United States this year. The violence has come home. Freedom of the press is the fundamental right of all Americans. It is outlined within the first amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the right to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” How can America call itself the land of the free, the land of opportunity, when they refuse to preserve, protect, and defend the institution that attempts to check the power of those in power? Regardless of the effects that journalistic scrutiny may have on a government, or a movement, or a culture, that institution must stand unwavering in its attempts to root out corruption and crime. America is in league with the monsters, and must immediately amend their ways, to further protect those who seek out justice and truth when no one else will. It’s the responsibility of the US government, and the governments of the world, to see the value of journalism and respect its integrity, with further legislation with the specific intention of protection of journalists. In early February 2018, the Journalism Protection Act was proposed, which would make it a federal crime to intentionally cause bodily harm to a journalist, affecting interstate or foreign commerce in the course of reporting or in a manner designed to intimidate him or her from news gathering.” Intentional lawmaking and legislation will help extend the guard of journalists both nationally, and internationally. Additionally, foundations like the Committee to Protect Journalists must be given the proper funding in order to supplement the objective reporting, and preservation of journalists everywhere. This is not how it has to be. This is not a problem that is unsolvable. Those who risk their lives to find the truth deserve the support and defense. We have to start somewhere. We don’t need another Marie Colvin, or Veronica Guerin, incident to happen again. Let’s start now.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
EditorWolfpack Editorial Board Categories
All
Archives
October 2020
|