🔗 Share this article

“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject low for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. He has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at home and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the same as my message for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.