The IAPA highlights the coincidence of Trump's rhetoric with attacks on journalists in the US
The "unprecedented rhetoric" against the press of US President Donald Trump and other officials of his government over the past two years coincided "with an alarming number of physical attacks and threats directed at journalists," according to the IAPA.
This thesis appears in the report on freedom of expression in the United States. presented today at the 74th Assembly of the Iteramericana Press Society (SIP), which is being held in the Argentine city of Salta.
"Trump's unprecedented verbal attacks on the media are still on the rise and, as one IAPA delegation highlighted during a mission to Washington earlier this year, rhetoric against the press has exacerbated an already hostile climate in the country. that journalists face increasing verbal threats and physical attacks, "the report adds.
The document says that, in addition, "the persistent threat of investigations into 'leaks of information' and prosecution of sources, as well as the Government's efforts to confiscate the records of journalists' communications, remains a primary concern.
Despite this, the report states that "press freedoms continue to enjoy solid legal protections and the judicial branch serves as a check on the ability of other branches to restrict the free press."
It also reveals that "verbal attacks on the credibility of the media continue unabated" and that "Trump continues to refer regularly to prominent news organizations, in particular to CNN, NBC and what he calls the 'failed' New York Times, as 'false news', a term originally intended to define created stories that are deliberately false. "
The document points out that "verbal attacks against the credibility of the media continue to resonate with politicians in Congress and at the state and local levels" and assures that "while Trump tends to address the national news organizations, the politicians follow a similar strategy to delegitimize local publications, as 'The Associated Press' reported in March. "
In this sense, he gives the example that, last summer, the Republican congressman of California Devin Nunes launched a campaign announcement of more than two minutes accusing the Fresno Bee of working "closely with radical groups of the left to promote numerous false news" about the.
The SIP, a private non-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas, is made up of editors and directors of more than 1,300 media outlets in the Americas and is based in Miami (USA). ).
