🔗 Share this article

“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. Trump has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), sued news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The impact on society is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual global journalism honors. My message there is the same as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.