Dawn Picken: Khashoggi killing tip of the iceberg for assaults on media

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi speaking during a news conference in Manama, Bahrain. Photo/AP

You'd have to make an effort not to have heard of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi Arabian journalist reportedly tortured and killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month. The US resident was a dissident who wrote columns critical of the Saudi royal family's repressive regime for The Washington Post.

The Saudi Arabian government initially claimed Khashoggi left the consulate alive, but last week admitted he had died inside, strangled after a fight. Turkish investigators say Khashoggi was dismembered by a Saudi assassination squad with ties to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Leaders in New Zealand, Britain, France, Germany and other countries have condemned the death, calling for a thorough investigation.

The incident has created a rift between Saudi Arabia and the West, and many international firms have pulled out of a high-profile investment summit happening in Riyadh.

Arab allies such as Lebanon, Yemen, the UAE, Palestine and Bahrain have affirmed their solidarity with Saudi Arabia. Initially, so did US president Donald Trump, who compared Prince Bin Salman's situation to accusations against newly-sworn Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh. "Here we go again with, you know, you're guilty until proven innocent…" said Trump.

While now saying he's "not satisfied" with Saudi Arabia's response to Khashoggi's death, Trump says the kingdom is a valued customer for the US weapons industry and he warned against halting a $450 billion arms and equipment deal.

Threats, violence and murder of reporters is not new. The Committee to Project Journalists says 44 journalists have been killed so far in 2018. Two-hundred sixty-two were imprisoned last year, the highest number CPJ has ever recorded. Turkey is the world's largest jailer of journalists.

Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) reports 57 journalists and 10 citizen journalists have been killed on the job this year, including six in the United States.

Last October, investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed when the car she was driving exploded in Malta. Caruana Galizia reported on government corruption and the Panama Papers. Her murder remains unsolved.

CPJ's Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and killers go free. The index lists the 10 worst countries as Somalia, Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, the Philippines, Mexico, Pakistan, Brazil, Russia and Bangladesh. About 93 per cent of murder victims are local reporters.

Press freedom is intolerable to repressive regimes and power-hungry despots. Governments worldwide use emergency laws to censor media. CPJ says they also increasingly bring "fake news" charges against journalists who contradict officials' statements. The fake news claim happens not just in developing nations ruled by dictators, but also in America, where President Trump tosses the phrase like confetti. He has repeatedly called media the "real enemy of the people".

By demonising the press, rulers seek to discredit and silence those tasked with speaking truth to power. Leaders from Mussolini to Hitler to American presidents Woodrow Wilson and Richard Nixon sought to control, manipulate and censor news coverage.

Reporters Sans Frontieres says it's concerned for Brazil's future as Jair Bolsonaro, favoured to win the presidential election run-off October 28, continues to wage a campaign marked by hate speech, disinformation, violence against journalists and contempt for human rights. RSF warns of "dark times ahead for democracy and press freedom".

Like Trump, Bolsonaro has used social media to circulate false information and discredit journalists critical of his party. As a result, one of Brazil's most respected journalists has received hundreds of threats and insults on social media. Another reporter (also a woman) was attacked and threatened with rape by Bolsonaro supporters.

"When the commander is president, all the press will be killed," they told her when they saw her press card.

RSF ranks New Zealand eighth on its Press Freedom Index. The United States ranks 45th, slipping two notches the past year, as Trump verbally attacks journalists and attempts to block White House access to multiple media outlets. He's even called for revoking certain broadcasting licenses. Journalists in America risk arrest for covering protests or attempting to question public officials. Reporters have been assaulted and killed on the job.

The internet has allowed instant news delivery. Yet monitoring organisations say only half of countries have free, independent media. We need muckrakers in every nation uncovering fraud, corruption and human rights abuses.

The Washington Post published Jamal Khashoggi's final column last week. Jamal Khashoggi's final Washington Post column

The Post's slogan is "Democracy Dies in Darkness". These days, it sounds more like a prediction than a pithy saying.

*The New Zealand Society of Authors helps co-ordinate a Writers in Prison committee for PEN International. To join or take part in letter writing on behalf of persecuted writers, email editline@xtra.co.nz

Dawn Picken has written for the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend and tutors at Toi Ohomai. She's a former TV journalist and marketing director who lives in Papamoa with her family.