Trump's Dismissal regarding Journalist's Murder Represents a New Low.

“Things happen.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. Trump has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “false information”), scolded them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), sued media organizations for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has pressured established media 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 domestically and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is responsible for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the same as my one for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.