Reporters Without Borders have been safeguarding the press since 1985. They never imagined protecting them in the United States — which for the first time made the list of most dangerous countries for journalists.
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00:00President Trump has made it incredibly clear that he does not consider the protection of journalists a priority.
00:16Freedom of the press is the freedom that confirms the existence of all other freedoms.
00:22So it's critical that we allow journalists to do their work safely and without fear of reprisal.
00:27We're seeing a rise of populism and authoritarian tendencies from leaders of countries that have once been considered safe for journalists.
00:35With this comes a desire by these leaders to control their own narratives,
00:40which leads to hostility and anti-press rhetoric directed at journalists.
00:50President Trump's anti-press rhetoric has had a trickle-down effect,
00:53and we now see this in the rise of verbal, physical, and legal attacks on journalists in local communities and by local police.
01:08In the past, the United States tied a free press rhetoric to its relationships with other countries.
01:14It was something that we tied aid to, alliances to, and other expectations to.
01:19We no longer see that happening with the United States government.
01:23We found that the number of detained professional journalists throughout the world rose.
01:42We also, however, saw that the number of non-professional journalists, this includes citizen journalists and bloggers, also rose.
01:50This is due to the fact that leaders that successfully clamped down on independent media
01:55are now creating legislative frameworks that allow them to persecute journalists, citizen journalists, and bloggers who have resorted to reporting on social media.
02:12Shekan is an Egyptian photojournalist who was imprisoned in Egypt in 2013.
02:18Reporters Without Borders encouraged the public to take a picture of themselves posing as if they were taking a photograph
02:24and share it on social media with the hashtag MyPickForShekan.
02:29Since then, Shekan has actually been released from prison, and we consider this an incredible success.
02:34When the public engages on issues of press freedom, the entire society benefits.