Politics is killing journalists: Our view

By now, most people know the story of reporter Jason Rezaian: imprisoned by Iran for 544 days, championed by his employer, The Washington Post, and freed in a prisoner swap last month brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry.

What many people don’t know is that jailing journalists and even killing them, just for doing their jobs, is a common occurrence in many parts of the world. Last year, 49 journalists were murdered and 199 were jailed, including 14 in Turkey, one of America’s NATO allies. The number of journalists jailed fell slightly since 2014, but the number of murders nearly doubled.

Turkey doubled the number of journalists it imprisoned and vaulted into fifth place in a rogue’s gallery of jailers, right behind China, Egypt, Iran and Eritrea — all countries where journalists who seek to practice freedom of speech may pay by losing all of their freedoms.

China and Iran have long taken turns as the world’s most frequent jailer of journalists, and most of the top jailers are totalitarian regimes. But the U.S. has a right to expect more from Turkey or from Egypt, the recipient of $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid last year.

Prominent journalist groups, a Turkish Nobel laureate and Vice President Biden have all excoriated the Turkish government for these crackdowns, which Biden called intimidation of the news media. But this is not an issue limited to journalists. U.S. citizens cherish freedom and democracy. But neither can survive without a free press that serves as a watchdog on government power.

Turkish ambassador: Arrests unrelated to journalism

In November, Turkey jailed two prominent journalists whose crime was a news story — backed by a videotape on their newspaper’s website — reporting that Turkey’s intelligence agency was secretly sending heavy weapons and ammunition to Syrian rebels.

Turkey’s increasingly autocratic president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called the report “slander.” The two men, editor Can Dündar and correspondent Erdem Gül, were arrested, tossed in jail and indicted on espionage charges. Last month, though neither has faced trial, prosecutors proposed sentences of “aggravated life,” meaning they'd face particularly tough conditions during a lifetime in prison. Such sentences would seem more appropriate for the most violent criminals. And perhaps Turkey — which, according to its ambassador, is “governed by the rule of law” — might want to remember that sentencing is not usually discussed until after a trial.

For its part, Turkey has plenty of excuses, such as claiming that some of the journalists were not credentialed or that some were charged with crimes such as murder. Journalism is not a credential profession; its practitioners are journalists because they report and write, whether for a newspaper, magazine, blog or social media. And a Turkish journalist accused of murder had seen that charge thrown out twice before by the Turkish Supreme Court, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Arrest and imprisonment to frighten independent reporters into silence are almost tradition in many countries, but some courageous journalists face far worse. CPJ says 781 journalists have been murdered for doing their jobs since 1992. And murdered with impunity. Nearly 90% of the murders remain unsolved, sending a message that the government isn’t all that interested in bringing the killers to justice.

Contrary to what you might think, covering wars is not the most dangerous job. Covering politics is. Last year, that was the job of nearly 80% of the 49 journalists murdered. The majority received death threats before they died; many were held captive, and some were tortured.

Autocrats around the world know that a good way to stay in control and cow citizens is to prevent a free press from taking hold, and the best way to do that is to throw independent journalists in jail for the crime of telling the truth.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.

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