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This was reported in September, but I just learned about it. I find it amazing.
During an address at Brown University, AG Sulzberger, the NYT publisher, related what happened when a Times journalist was endangered by the Egyptian government.
You can see his address at this link.
I believe a free press is an essential ingredient in any functioning democracy. Attacking it is the work of despots.
p.s. 18 months later another NYT reporter arrived in Egypt. He was detained and deported in apparent retaliation for exposing information that was embarrassing to the Egyptian government. When the NYT protested the move, a senior official at the US embassy in Cairo said, "what did you expect would happen? His reporting made the government look bad."
During an address at Brown University, AG Sulzberger, the NYT publisher, related what happened when a Times journalist was endangered by the Egyptian government.
Two years ago, the Times received a call from a U.S. government official warning the newspaper’s brass of the imminent arrest of a NY Times reporter based in Egypt. His name is Declan Walsh.
“Though the news was alarming, the call was actually fairly standard. Over the years we’ve received countless such warnings from American diplomats, military leaders and national security officials. But this particular call took a surprising and distressing turn. We learned the official was passing along this warning without the knowledge or permission of the Trump Administration.
“Rather than trying to stop the Egyptian government or assist the reporter, the official believed the Trump Administration intended to sit on the information and let the arrest be carried out. The official feared being punished for even alerting us to the danger.”
Times top leaders felt they were unable to count on their own government to prevent the arrest or help free the reporter if he was imprisoned. So they turned to Walsh’s native country, Ireland, for aid.
“Within an hour, Irish diplomats traveled to (Walsh’s) house and safely escorted him to the airport before Egyptian forces could detain him,” said Sulzberger.
Trump’s administration has “retreated from our country’s historical role as a defender of the free press. Seeing that, other countries are targeting journalists with a growing sense of impunity,” said Sulzberger.
You can see his address at this link.
I believe a free press is an essential ingredient in any functioning democracy. Attacking it is the work of despots.
p.s. 18 months later another NYT reporter arrived in Egypt. He was detained and deported in apparent retaliation for exposing information that was embarrassing to the Egyptian government. When the NYT protested the move, a senior official at the US embassy in Cairo said, "what did you expect would happen? His reporting made the government look bad."
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