NYT Chairman Urges Journalists to Stand Up for Media Freedom

By: ICFJ | 11/09/2018

The chairman of The New York Times Company says journalists and their supporters must stand up for media freedom in the face of widespread attacks around the world.

Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. made the comment while accepting the ICFJ Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism, which recognizes a lifetime commitment to the highest professional standards.

“Around the world, powerful forces are sowing seeds of distrust in the news media,” said Sulzberger, who pointed out that autocrats are taking note of President Trump’s attacks against American journalists.

“When autocratic rulers around the world see the President of the United States demean and attack reporters, they take note. They sense that the kinds of harsh anti-press measures that in the past would have prompted a strong American response may no longer provoke retaliation or even condemnation,” said Sulzberger, who served as publisher of The Times for a quarter-century before stepping down from that post last January.

He said journalists have the duty to stand up for media freedom. “It’s not our job to be the voice of the resistance. But it is our job is to report the facts, to stand tall in defense of “truth and trust”… and in defense of our profession’s responsibility to hold power to account.”

Sulzberger, who built The Times into a global and domestic powerhouse during his time as publisher, said the newspaper’s readership is growing faster than ever at home and faster still abroad. “We literally now have subscriptions in every country in the world...I am trying to think - we may not have many in Antarctica. But we actually have some in North Korea."

He said he found it “scary” that “today 72 percent of Republicans say they’d rather get their news directly from President Trump’s Twitter account — that is, from what is essentially state media — than from the independent press.”

But he said “we must continue to report, we must continue to tell truths, we must continue to do our work, no matter the obstacles we face. And we have to remember that we’re all in this together.”

Latest News

ICFJ se Suma a Otras 9 Organizaciones Internacionales Para Presentar un Amicus Curiae en el Caso del Periodista Guatemalteco Encarcelado José Rubén Zamora

Un grupo de 10 organizaciones internacionales presentó esta semana un amicus curiae ante la Corte Suprema de Justicia de Guatemala en el caso del periodista José Rubén Zamora Marroquín. El amicus, presentado el 26 de marzo, argumenta que el retorno de Zamora a prisión preventiva constituye una violación de sus derechos fundamentales bajo el derecho guatemalteco e internacional, e insta a la Corte a otorgar un recurso de amparo pendiente y permitir que el Sr. Zamora lleve su proceso bajo medidas sustitutivas.

ICFJ Joins 9 Other International Organizations in Submitting Amicus Brief in Case of Imprisoned Guatemalan Journalist José Rubén Zamora

A group of 10 international organizations submitted an amicus curiae brief to Guatemala’s Supreme Court in the case of journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín. The brief, filed on March 26, argues that Zamora’s return to preventive detention constitutes a violation of his fundamental rights under Guatemalan and international law, and urges the Court to grant a pending amparo appeal and allow Zamora to return to house arrest.

Press Freedom on Campus: Why it Matters and What Student Journalists Need Most

In February, ICFJ partnered with Vanderbilt University and Freedom Forum, with support from the Lumina Foundation, to bring university faculty and students, international and U.S. journalists, and media leaders together for a discussion about the importance of press freedom in democratic societies. Participants stressed how U.S.-based journalists can learn from the experiences of their colleagues abroad, and they dived into the challenges campus reporters face, such as a lack of funding and harassment from fellow students, offered advice for engaging audiences, and more.