Editorial
Press freedom can t be taken for granted
Attention Monday centered on the Electoral College and the end of a long, contentious election season. Today we celebrate another of our constitutional foundations, observing the 229th anniversary of ratification of the Bill of Rights.
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution represented a compromise that seems unimaginable today, yet leaders on both sides of the political spectrum surely can agree the individual liberties enumerated by members of the first Congress have proven invaluable over the past two centuries-plus.
The first article of the Bill of Rights, the cornerstone of our press liberty, is particularly important to journalists and the work we do. The past year has delivered the same severe financial challenges confronting most other businesses, but it also has revealed threats to our work as a check on government. Some examples:
“This marks the fifth consecutive year that repressive governments have imprisoned at least 250 journalists,” said Elana Beiser, CPJ’s editorial director and author of the report.
She cited a “lack of global leadership on democratic values particularly from the United States, where President Donald Trump has inexhaustibly denigrated the press and cozied up to dictators such as Egyptian President Abdelfattah el-Sisi” that has exacerbated the “crisis” of free speech.
Governments attempted to delay journalists’ trials and limited access to visitors this year, and at least two journalists died in custody after contracting COVID-19 during their jail time, according to the report.