🔗 Share this article

“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is arguably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were unified in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. He has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his preference, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is profound. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly global journalism honors. My message at the event is the same as my one for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.