The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.
While American journalist Evan Gershkovich remains wrongfully detained in Russian custody, he was recognized here in Maine on Friday for his courage. Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journalist who was seized by Russian authorities in March, is the newest recipient of the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for Courage in Journalism from Colby College.
It is a fitting, if unfortunate, recognition of Gershkovich’s work and bravery in the face of Russian authoritarianism. It is fitting because, even before his imprisonment on charges of espionage (denied by his employer and the U.S. government), Gershkovich was courageously working to keep people informed in a country where truth-telling is often criminalized. It is unfortunate because journalism should not be a crime, anywhere, and Gershkovich should not be in prison simply for doing his job.
Gershkovich, a Bowdoin College graduate, should be here in Maine to accept this award, not languishing in a Russian cell. He remains caught in the midst of a geopolitical chess game and subject to the whims of an authoritarian government that weaponizes information and criminalizes those who seek to share it accurately.
“The arrest and imprisonment of Evan Gershkovich is an attack on journalists and democracy around the world,” Martin Kaiser, the Lovejoy Selection Committee chair and former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editor, said in a September statement when Gershkovich was announced as this year’s award winner. “It is a threat to journalists that you might be next. Reporters must not be silenced.”
Sadly, hauntingly, Kaiser’s warning has come true for another journalist in Russia. Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual American-Russian citizen and editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has been detained and accused of failing to register as a foreign agent. This familiar approach from Russian authorities wrongly treats journalistic efforts to inform the international community as some sort of international conspiracy. It’s not; it’s journalism.
“Journalism is not a crime, and Kurmasheva’s detention is yet more proof that Russia is determined to stifle independent reporting,” said Gulnoza Said of the Committee to Protect Journalists, according to the Associated Press.
Press freedom is a foundational part of American democracy, but it is not a uniquely American value. Journalists must be allowed to pursue the truth around the world. As this critical freedom comes under attack in various countries, particularly from authoritarian-minded governments like the one controlling Russia, journalists and their work must be defended.