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Episode 207: US-Backed Killing of Journalists in Gaza and the Limits of "Freedom of the Press" Sloganeering

Added 2024-08-14 18:34:19 +0000 UTC

"Western World Observes Press Freedom Day," gloated the United Press International newswire back in 1961. "Trump v. CNN: lawsuit becomes test case on press freedom," declared The Guardian in November 2018. "The 10 Best and Worst Countries for Press Freedom," says US News and World report in 2022.

For decades, elite US media and government institutions have touted the sacred notion of freedom of the press. Our media, so we’re told, have the legally enshrined latitude and responsibility to criticize, to interrogate, to expose. According to this same high-minded rhetoric, freedom of the press preserves our media’s integrity and serves as a pillar of US democracy.

This all sounds well and good. After all, media’s ability to keep the public informed without constraints or compromise is intrinsically good and essential to any society - that’s kinda the whole point of this show. But there are far more limitations to US-based frameworks of freedom of the press than our media, and our government, let on. Far too often, the concept of press freedom is limited by liberal formulations of negative rights, and even those, selectively applied depending on short term US interests. As the US-backed wholesale destruction of Gaza by Israel enters its 10 month and more than 140 journalists have been killed in the assault –– many deliberately targeted by the Israeli military –– Western elite sanctimony over their alleged commitment to press freedom has been revealed as hollow, its ideological cracks and contradictions apparent for all to see.

On this episode, our Season 7 Finale, we examine lofty American conceptions of freedom of the press, especially as it emerged in the middle of the 20th century, looking at how US media organizations are more willing to award rights, sympathy, and security to those journalists and institutions who help prop up the usual State Department line.

Our guests are documentarian Kavitha Chekuru and journalist Hoda Osman.

Guests

Kavitha Chekuru is an Emmy-nominated & Polk Award-winning journalist & documentary filmmaker. She is the director of the film, ‘The Night Won’t End’: Biden’s War on Gaza, an investigative documentary about war crimes against civilians in Gaza by the Israeli military and the Biden administration's relentless support for the war, which was released in June 2024.

Hoda Osman is an investigative journalist and editor. She is the Executive Editor at Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) and the president of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalist Association. ARIJ partnered recently on The Gaza Project, an investigative series led by the organization Forbidden Stories, that documents how the Israeli military has been deliberately targeting journalists in Gaza since October 7.

Show Notes

Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war

Committee to Protect Journalists

The Gaza Project

June 25, 2024 | Forbidden Stories

Israel’s War on Gaza Is the Deadliest Conflict on Record for Journalists

Hoda Osman, Firas Taweel and Farah Jallad | June 25 2024 | The Intercept

‘The Night Won’t End’: Biden’s War on Gaza

Front Lines | June 21, 2024 | Al Jazeera

Haunted by their colleagues’ deaths: The journalists risking their lives to report on Gaza

Antoinette Radford, Sana Noor Haq and Abdel Qadder Al-Sabbah | May 3, 2024 | CNN

World Press Freedom Day: Gaza conflict deadliest for journalists

Hanna Duggal and Marium Ali | May 3, 2024 | Al Jazeera

NYT Not Much Concerned About Israel’s Mass Murder of Journalists

Harry Zehner | May 1, 2024 | FAIR

‘Unparalleled and Unprecedented’

John Daniszewski | April 4, 2024 | NiemanReports

103 journalists killed in 150 days in Gaza: a tragedy for Palestinian journalism

March 7, 2024 | Reporters Without Borders

The journalists killed in Gaza — and what they tried to show the world

Ellen Francis, Artur Galocha and Joe Snell | February 9, 2024 | The Washington Post

Gaza: UN experts condemn killing and silencing of journalists

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights | February 1, 2024 | United Nations

The US Media Is Ignoring Israel’s Campaign to Kill Palestinian Journalists

Jack Mirkinson | January 23, 2024 | The Nation

Coverage of Gaza War in the New York Times and Other Major Newspapers Heavily Favored Israel, Analysis Shows

Adam Johnson and Othman Ali | January 9, 2024 | The Intercept

Israel-Gaza war takes record toll on journalists

December 21, 2023 | Committee to Protect Journalists

Gaza war is deadliest conflict for journalists in over 30 years, press advocates say

Fatima Al-Kassab | December 3, 2023 | NPR/WNYC

“Massacred” vs “Left to Die”: Documenting Media Bias Against Palestinians Oct 7 - Nov 7

Othman Ali | November 17, 2023 | The Column

Solidarity With Palestine Is Not a Crime

Nima Shirazi | October 16, 2023 | The Nation

Buckling to Bigotry: The Newseum Dishonors Murdered Palestinian Journalists

Nima Shirazi | May 13, 2013 | Wide Asleep In America

The Newseum’s Decision to Drop Palestinian Journalists from Memorial Prompts Varied Responses

Nima Shirazi | May 17, 2013 | Wide Asleep In America

Unlawful Israeli Attacks on Palestinian Media

December 20, 2012 | Human Rights Watch

The Press: Storm Warning

December 11, 1944 | TIME

The Outrageous Case of a Journalist Charged With a Hate Crime for Recording a Gaza Protest Action

Natasha Lennard | August 8, 2024 | The Intercept

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Transcript

For a full transcript of this episode, go here. You can also find transcripts of past episodes, live shows, Beg-a-Thons, Interviews and News Briefs here.

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