Enemies Of The Free Press Are Teaming Up, So Should We

These are critical times we live in. From Belarus to Russia, from China to Venezuela, a free and independent press is under constant attack, at a time when we need them the most. Critical times require critical minds and voices.

Illustration: Kidler

It is by definition our job as journalists to speak truth to power, and to hold governments accountable for their misdeeds, even when our leaders, who are often referred to as “strongmen,” are hellbent on destroying the independent press. They do this because they see us as a threat to their very own wrongdoings. However, it’s clear that journalists who are punished for speaking the truth to power are NOT enemies, but DEFENDERS of the people.

We are at the core of a mature, strong and functioning democracy.

Yes, we might be seen as enemies of the powerful, but we are just average citizens who try to dedicate our professional lives to gathering reliable information for the benefit of our people; to strengthen and defend our very own democracies. This often comes with a high price. Many of our colleagues from Eurasia to Africa, South Asia and America are being punished for simply doing their jobs. Some lose their lives, others lose all but their lives.

Azerbaijan, a country where I come from, has a record of state antagonism toward independent and opposition media. Currently there are half a dozen journalists in jails – all based on flimsy, trumped-up charges in apparent retaliation for critical and investigative journalism. Others, such as investigative journalist Afghan Mukhtarli and many more, are currently in exile after being released from prison.

As if being in exile is not already enough to bear, our colleagues are being hounded by authorities even abroad. Mukhtarli, who is a freelance journalist and contributed to a Berlin-based independent news outlet, fled to Georgia from Azerbaijan in 2014 after receiving threats over his investigative reporting on corruption in the country’s Defense Ministry. In 2017 he was abducted in Tbilisi, Georgia, and was illegally transported to Azerbaijan. Only recently a judge in Baku ordered his release, and Afghan was put on a flight to Germany, where his wife and daughter live in exile.

This is only a mere example of how the enemies of press freedom are teaming up against independent voices, not only at home, but outside of their borders. For the few well-known cases that garner some kind of attention, there are many more lesser-known victims, whose stories are never told. And frankly, by teaming up against independent voices regimes that are infamous with their poor press freedom records, are hurting their own societies the most, and harming our international standing — even today, at a time when their countries need critical minds and voices more than ever.

How should we journalists respond when our colleagues are persecuted? Many of us have chosen to express our reactions to press freedom cases. What we all are missing however, is a leadership that would help us translate our reactions into ACTION.

It’s absolutely necessary to counter increasingly bold regimes together by offering steadier and more united support for press freedom. The degradation of press freedom in our world is serious and needs to stop now. When journalists are attacked, jailed, silenced in our countries, the rest of the world is left under-informed about sensitive issues of international interest such as corruption, kleptocracy, human rights abuses, and of course, ongoing conflicts. This is why both local and international voices and journalists must come together in an attempt to advocate for change.