Reuters Editor-in-Chief Steve Adler circulated a memo to the reporters of his worldwide news agency about how to handle reporting on President Donald Trump’s administration. His advice offers a scary glimpse into the hostility that reporters who state the facts can expect to face.
Adler compares the Trump administration to some rather unflattering governments, including those in authoritarian countries:
“… In which the media is unwelcome and frequently under attack. I am perpetually proud of our work in places such as Turkey, the Philippines, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Thailand, China, Zimbabwe, and Russia, nations in which we sometimes encounter some combination of censorship, legal prosecution, visa denials, and even physical threats to our journalists. We respond to all of these by doing our best to protect our journalists, by recommitting ourselves to reporting fairly and honestly, by doggedly gathering hard-to-get information – and by remaining impartial.”
Essentially, Adler compares the Trump administration to countries like Russia, where reporters who do not speak well of the government are intimidated and killed on government orders. Another country on the list is Yemen, which was recently included in Trump’s infamous “Muslim Ban” executive order.
Adler also expresses disbelief in how the Trump administration has treated journalists in the short time they have been in office:
“It’s not every day that a U.S. president calls journalists ‘among the most dishonest human beings on earth’ or that his chief strategist dubs the media ‘the opposition party’.”
Adler encourages his reporters not to be intimidated by Trump’s administration, but to also avoid picking “unnecessary fights.”
Finally, Adler adds on a note of encouragement: the mission of Reuters. He concludes his memo with the following:
“This is our mission, in the U.S. and everywhere. We make a difference in the world because we practice professional journalism that is both intrepid and unbiased. When we make mistakes, which we do, we correct them quickly and fully. When we don’t know something, we say so. When we hear rumors, we track them down and report them only when we are confident that they are factual.”
It is more than a bit unnerving that one of the most reputable journalistic bodies in the world is warning their reporters about how to properly handle such a frightening regime. But, then again, not much else has been normal about Trump’s first few weeks in office.
Somebody with aptitude and conviction should buy the FAKE NEWS and failing @nytimes and either run it correctly or let it fold with dignity!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017
Featured Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
