America’s best and bravest faced an extraordinarily dangerous year in 2020. Joe Biden’s priority as president should be to support these heroes and ensure their safety, especially here at home. After all, no one puts more on the line than they do.
That’s right, we’re talking about journalists. Or at least some people are.
The Washington Post editorial board implored Biden to make advocating for imprisoned journalists a prime part of U.S. foreign policy, warning that 2020 was a dangerous year for journalists worldwide. There is nothing wrong with this: In fact, advocating for freedom of the press globally is a noble, American effort. But the Washington Post’s insistence on lumping in the inconveniences of American journalists with the real dangers faced by the counterparts abroad is another embarrassing exercise in self-importance.
The Washington Post cites a report from the Committee to Protect Journalists, which states that the 274 journalists imprisoned in 2020 is the highest on record. The worst offender was China, with 47 journalists imprisoned, including the four-year sentence recently handed down to Zhang Zhan for reporting on the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Of those 274 imprisoned journalists, zero are currently sitting in U.S. prisons. Yes, 110 journalists were arrested in the United States, a natural result of being caught in the middle of the violent riots this summer that police were struggling to control. The charges were what could be expected in the aftermath of a riot, including violating curfew and disturbing the peace. Ninety-eight of them either saw no charges or had them quickly dropped, while 12 are still waiting for theirs to be dismissed. But even while acknowledging that most of the arrests occurred during riots, the CPJ has already cast its blame: President Trump doesn’t respect the media, and so, an over-militarized police force was encouraged to single out journalists in all the chaos.
This American media obsession with the treatment of media has been the norm since Trump first took office, and the “woe is us” narrative was popularized by the media analysts over at CNN. According to this mindset, the media can do no wrong: People don’t dislike legacy media because of their biases or because outlets try to destroy the lives of private citizens or tear people down at their highest moments. It is only because Trump decided to tweet some mean things about CNN or the New York Times, brainwashing the commoners into a violent hatred.
It is not a dangerous time to be a journalist in the U.S. unless you are sent to cover a Black Lives Matter-inspired riot. The four-year pity party by media figures does not put them in the same boat as journalists risking their lives and freedom in countries such as China and Turkey. Maybe a little less self-idolatry in legacy media could help ease the all-time high level of distrust.
