Journalists are being jailed for 'fake news,' and critics blame Trump
A record 262 journalists were jailed in 2017 simply for doing their work, according to a report published Wednesday by the Committee to Project Journalists. That figure is higher even than last year's historic peak of some 259 journalists behind bars.
The nonprofit's annual census found that, of those arrested, an astonishing 21 were arrested on "false news" charges. Others have been jailed for vague "anti-state" charges.
In an era of regular "fake news" accusations from Donald Trump, many have pointed a finger at the president for exacerbating the situation.
Barely a week ago, Trump attacked the free press at a Florida rally and spent the weekend railing on major news outlets. Those were just the most recent examples from a long line of comments and accusations.
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His consistent effort to delegitimize journalism is arguably spreading throughout the world -- as is his hands off approach to condemning other countries for suppressing press freedom -- and people have noticed.
Sen. John McCain called out Trump after the publication of the report, slamming the "harmful rhetoric" that "empowers repressive regime to jail reporters & silence the truth."
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Others made a similar connection between Trump's rhetoric and a thriving anti-journalism culture.
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Turkey was the worst offender in 2017, with 73 journalists in jail. China and Egypt follow with 41 and 20 journalists behind bars, respectively.
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On the same day the CPJ report was released, reports came in about two Reuters reporters arrested in Myanmar in connection with their work reporting there. Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen Adler released a statement saying, "We are outraged by this blatant attack on press freedom."
American institutions such as the U.S. Embassy in Burma and the State Department echoed the sentiment.
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Jason Rezaian, who was jailed in Iran for his work at the Washington Post, had perhaps the most succinct response to Wednesday's news: "This is terrible."
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Topics Donald Trump Politics
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
