It’s funny the things people pick up along the way.
Prior to entering a plenary session in Copenhagen at the World Newspaper Congress, there was a little table of giveaways. Not having seen a button in quite some time (they used to be the rage years back), we grabbed this one (right).
Numerous other digests and newspapers were available too.
The immediate significance of Evan and others like him came up later under the discussion of press freedom and the number of reporters detained in Russia.
Alsu Kurmasheva and Evan Gershkovich were just released into U.S. custody as part of a prisoner swap.
As the story goes, Evan needed to file paperwork on his departure. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The pro forma printout included a long blank space the prisoner could fill out if desired, or simply, as expected, leave blank. In the formal high Russian he had honed over 16 months imprisonment, the Journal’s Russia correspondent filled the page.”
The last line submitted a proposal of his own: after his release, would Putin be willing to sit down for an interview?
Now that is a journalist – always after the next story.
While such travesties are not as overt in Canada, never think for a moment press freedom is not being tested all the time.
It isn’t that often we get queries from the editorial department, but this week the editor pitched a question about what to do when no response is forthcoming. Apart from letting the public know that point, there isn’t much we can do – but the problem is becoming systemic.
When reporters ask questions, it is on behalf of our readers. While very familiar with the press release culture that has emerged in the last two decades, the next question posed by a reporter often adds to the completeness of the story.
What is the cost? What is the impact on ratepayers? Does this action limit capacity for other projects going forward?
Stand with newspapers and reporters – we are here to serve you.
