🔗 Share this article The President's Dismissal regarding Journalist's Murder Represents a New Low. “Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is probably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the facts. The Context The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.) The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings. International Response For a short time, governments were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption. Presidential Comments Critics of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.” Pattern of Behavior This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down. He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at home and vital independent media abroad. Wider Consequences All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman”). It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions. In no place is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the recent period. Societal Impact The impact on society is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our freedom to exist without fear and securely. This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the same as my message for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.