{"id":20852,"date":"2020-06-03T19:55:37","date_gmt":"2020-06-03T19:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=20852"},"modified":"2020-06-03T23:53:21","modified_gmt":"2020-06-03T23:53:21","slug":"it-cant-happen-here-and-then-it-did","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/it-cant-happen-here-and-then-it-did\/","title":{"rendered":"It can&#8217;t happen here \u2013 and then it did"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/joe-saltzman-212821\">Joe Saltzman<\/a>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-southern-california-annenberg-school-for-communication-and-journalism-2771\">University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>When Americans think of journalists attacked, arrested or imprisoned while doing their job, <a href=\"http:\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnn\/2018\/images\/12\/19\/worldwilde_round-up.pdf\">they think of it happening in distant lands<\/a> \u2013 in places like Russia, Syria, Afghanistan, El Salvador and Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are so ingrained in the American consciousness, citizens may have been lulled into thinking that these acts of intimidation couldn\u2019t possibly happen on American soil.<\/p>\n<p>And then they did.<\/p>\n<p>On May 29, police in Minnesota <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2020\/may\/29\/black-cnn-reporter-arrested-on-air-minneapolis-protests-george-floyd-killing\">arrested a CNN journalist<\/a> who was covering the Minneapolis protests, leading him and two crew members away in handcuffs.<\/p>\n<p>This wasn\u2019t a one-off.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In Los Angeles, an officer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/06\/01\/business\/media\/reporters-protests-george-floyd.html?action=click&amp;module=Top%20Stories&amp;pgtype=Homepage\">shoved a photojournalist to the ground<\/a> after she showed her credentials.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.boston.com\/news\/media\/2020\/05\/30\/fox-news-reporter-leland-vittert-attacked-protest\">Protesters attacked and chased a Fox News reporter<\/a> near the White House.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/abc7.com\/journalists-covering-george-floyd-protests-face-attacks-from-police\/6226798\/\">According to Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessey-Fiske<\/a>, she and roughly a dozen other members of the press had identified themselves to the Minnesota State Police, who nonetheless \u201cfired tear gun canisters on us at point blank range.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>An officer <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TwitterMoments\/status\/1266635559310512128\">aimed and fired a pepper ball<\/a> at a Louisville reporter on live television.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div data-react-class=\"Tweet\" data-react-props=\"{&quot;tweetId&quot;:&quot;1266635559310512128&quot;}\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2020\/05\/george-floyd-protests-media-nbc-news-garrett-hake-ali-velshi-1202947944\/\">Between May 29 and May 31<\/a>, there were more than 100 reported incidents of journalists being \u201cinjured, assaulted or harassed by either protesters or police officers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These reports are shocking and chilling, compounded by the fact that Americans rarely see this happen on American soil \u2013 whether on the news, on fictional TV shows or in movies.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve studied <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ijpc.org\/\">the image of the journalist in popular culture<\/a> for more than 30 years, documenting how the public forms its impressions of journalism through movies, television and novels.<\/p>\n<p>For almost a century, popular culture has perpetuated the notion that only journalists working in foreign countries were in danger. We saw this in World War II films like \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0034507\/\">Berlin Correspondent<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0032349\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0\">Comrade X<\/a>,\u201d in which foreign correspondents escaped brushes with death to inform the public.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s the journalist blown up while covering a nuclear submarine disaster in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0091886\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0\">The Bedford Incident<\/a>,\u201d and the photojournalist who commits suicide as Indonesian police close in on her in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086617\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0\">The Year of Living Dangerously<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086510\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3\">Under Fire<\/a>,\u201d journalists are shot in Nicaragua by hostile troops, while in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0091886\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0\">Salvador<\/a>,\u201d one photojournalist is killed while covering an aerial raid, and Salvadoran troops torture another.<\/p>\n<p>Then there are the journalists who barely escape death but leave their sources behind to suffer at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0087553\/\">The Killing Fields<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cpj.org\/data\/killed\/?status=Killed&amp;motiveConfirmed%5B%5D=Confirmed&amp;type%5B%5D=Journalist&amp;start_year=1992&amp;end_year=2020&amp;group_by=year\">Real-life examples of journalists killed around the world<\/a> give credence to these images, and Americans such as Wall Street Journal reporter <a href=\"https:\/\/cpj.org\/2020\/05\/family-of-wall-street-journal-reporter-daniel-pear\/\">Daniel Pearl<\/a> and video reporter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/12\/21\/arts\/design\/james-foley-bradley-mccallum.html\">James Foley<\/a> were killed while covering stories for the American news media in Pakistan and Syria, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>In films set in America, journalists do find themselves in trouble. In \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0045267\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3\">The Turning Point<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0071970\/\">The Parallax View<\/a>,\u201d investigative reporters are killed, while in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0107798\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0\">The Pelican Brief<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0473705\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0\">State of Play<\/a>\u201d journalists narrowly escape death.<\/p>\n<p>But these domestic journalists weren\u2019t killed by law enforcement or the military but by sinister people in the government or as a result of business cabals or organized crime. Television, meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vulture.com\/2020\/06\/tv-cops-are-always-the-main-characters.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab\">is saturated with images of cops as heroes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>American studies scholar Jerome de Groot <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books\/about\/Consuming_History.html?id=73IkpYmgC5AC\">has written<\/a> about how novels, movies and television shows offer \u201cpowerful models and paradigms\u201d for understanding our shared past.<\/p>\n<p>So it can be confusing and disturbing to see images that upend preconceived notions about American journalists \u2013 that overseas, they might be exposed, but here in America, they\u2019ll be protected by the law.<\/p>\n<p>The illusion has been shattered. As Dan Shelley, executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Association <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wthr.com\/article\/more-journalists-injured-covering-george-floyd-protests-1\">explained<\/a>, the police \u201cstarted deliberately attacking journalists who were clearly identifiable and identifying themselves as journalists. \u2026 To be a journalist in the Twin Cities last night, particularly in Minneapolis, if you were just arrested, you were lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poynter.org\/newsletters\/2020\/attacks-on-media-covering-the-protests-are-simply-following-the-presidents-rhetoric\/\">have blamed<\/a> President Donald Trump\u2019s broadsides against \u201cfake news\u201d and his rhetoric castigating the media as the \u201cenemies of the people.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books\/about\/Hate_Inc.html?id=LTFRwgEACAAJ\">Others say<\/a> many media outlets have ceded their role as serious news gatherers in favor of stoking sensationalism and division for profit, which has led to plummeting trust.<\/p>\n<p>And though Trump has been notably virulent in his attacks on the news media, past presidents \u2013 including Barack Obama \u2013 haven\u2019t always been champions of freedom of the press. Like Trump, Obama wanted to control the narrative, and during his two terms he used the 1917 Espionage Act to crack down on journalists and their sources <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2016\/04\/06\/obamas-gift-to-donald-trump-a-policy-of-cracking-down-on-journalists-and-their-sources\/\">by prosecuting more leakers and whistleblowers than all previous administrations combined<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>No matter the cause, I won\u2019t be surprised if the movies catch up to the current moment, and films start to feature besieged journalists on American soil.<\/p>\n<p>Their biggest threat won\u2019t be a foreign power or a corporation or a mobster.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019ll be their own government.<\/p>\n<p>[<em>You\u2019re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation\u2019s authors and editors.<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/us\/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&amp;utm_medium=inline-link&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter-text&amp;utm_content=youresmart\">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter<\/a>.]<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/139838\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/joe-saltzman-212821\">Joe Saltzman<\/a>, Professor of Journalism and Communication, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-southern-california-annenberg-school-for-communication-and-journalism-2771\">University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>This article is republished from <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/it-cant-happen-here-and-then-it-did-139838\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joe Saltzman, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism When Americans think of journalists attacked, arrested or imprisoned while doing their job, they think of it happening in distant lands \u2013 in places like Russia, Syria, Afghanistan, El Salvador and Mexico. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are so ingrained [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":20853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293],"tags":[2254,8142,8131,785,6809,1896,654],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20852"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20852"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20860,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20852\/revisions\/20860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}