We must fight for press freedom – and for Evan
As journalist Evan Gershkovich approaches the chilling milestone of one year locked up in a Russian prison, his horrific ordeal is a reminder that preserving press freedom is a never-ending task.
The 32-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter faces a possible criminal trial over unfounded spying charges – an accusation last levelled at US reporters during the Cold War.
The US State Department has declared Gershkovich – widely viewed as a political hostage held to advantage the Putin regime – is being wrongly detained, and President Joe Biden has committed to bringing him home.
Gershkovich is no spy – he was simply doing his job reporting in Russia. Journalism is not a crime.
As the backroom machinations attempting to secure his release continue, prominent Australians – including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton – have written in support of Gershkovich.
Hopefully, their letters will offer some reassurance as he endures almost constant confinement and isolation in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison, permitted only one hour of daylight each day, in a tiny yard.
Public pressure and awareness can be an important tool in a government’s response to a case of wrongful detention.
Gershkovich’s case is also a timely reminder that Australia and its allies must fight for press freedom at every opportunity or, little by little, journalists’ ability to accurately reflect and report on the world will be eroded. As misinformation and disinformation increasingly gain a foothold in the digital age, there is no substitute for eyewitness reporting.
For more than three years, the Australian public has had little exposure to first-hand reporting out of China as many media organisations have been unable to send correspondents there since the last few reporters were forced to leave due to security concerns.
Despite efforts to work around the bureaucratic and security barriers, reporting out of China is close to impossible unless through highly constrained state-sanctioned leaders’ visits. The situation in Russia is even more dire.
Gershkovich’s arrest sparked the departure of most of the remaining western journalists in Russia, though even before that the Kremlin was making moves.
In June 2022, just a few months after the Ukraine invasion, Moscow banned 121 Australian citizens, including journalists and Defence officials, from entering Russia.
The journalists from News Corp, the Nine Network, Sky News and the ABC were among the black-listed Australians accused of being part of a “Russophobic agenda” after Canberra placed sanctions on Kremlin officials in the wake of the Ukraine war.
Almost of all of these had never reported from Russia, with most seemingly included in the list simply for having written about the war.
While more symbolic than anything, the ban spoke to Russia’s priorities. Countries like Russia and China see subduing or intimidating the media as a legitimate tool in a state’s arsenal to maintain control.
When I travelled to Beijing with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong in December 2022, Chinese officials made no effort to disguise their surveillance of journalists’ activities. Mysterious strangers in suits resided in every second hotel room on the same floor the small travelling media pack was staying, while a stroll in the expansive compound where the diplomatic meetings took place was monitored by cameras and security staff.
There were no incidents on the brief trip, but it’s not difficult to imagine how a situation would escalate if the Chinese officials took genuine issue with the behaviour of a reporter. But being abroad isn’t even a prerequisite.
At the height of Australia’s contentious relationship with China, there was a rather disturbing incident in the Prime Minister’s courtyard at Parliament House.
It involved a photographer and reporter from a Chinese-linked media organisation blatantly taking pictures of Australian journalists standing in the courtyard for a press conference held by then-PM Scott Morrison.
Once journalists realised what was going on, the reporter and photographer quickly left the scene. Security around who was permitted into press conferences was subsequently tightened.
All this to say Australia is far from immune to incursions on press freedom, so to stand up for any abuse of power is to strengthen our own system.
Australians may not be all that familiar with Gershkovich’s work, but in knowing his name they maintain scrutiny on an issue that has broad impacts on our shores.
His Wall Street Journal colleague Paul Beckett recently described the detaining of US citizens as “a business for Putin, writ large”.
Australia stands to lose much in a world that has normalised the hostage-taking of journalists to leverage power over democratic countries. For this reason, and because reporting on the world is not a crime: I stand with Evan.