Sarwar, McManus on Need for Press Freedom: The Wire

Journalism affiliated faculty Beena Sarwar and James McManus co-wrote an op-ed for India’s The Wire, calling for the restoration of freedom of the press in the Biden-era presidency.

Sarwar and McManus cite the recent annual report by the Committee to Protect Journalists that highlights not only the lack of punishment for people who target journalists, but also the imprisonment of journalists globally for doing their jobs.

“Among the many items on president-elect Biden’s to-do list, restoring respect for a free press would send an important signal and ricochet around the world. Here are some steps his administration needs to take urgently:

• Hold Saudi Arabia to account for its role in the killing of The Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi
• Take the lead with international institutions, including the special rapporteurs for freedom of expression of the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
• Hold police officials accountable – those who used tear gas, rubber bullets and tasers against journalists, and detained, arrested, and targeted reporters who were trying to do their job
• Drop charges against whistleblowers who provide crucial information to reporters about administrative wrongdoing.”

Read The Wire piece.

Sarwar also published an opinion piece in The Wire on January 29 calling on Pakistan and India to treat each other’s civilian prisoners more humanely. She also recently spoke on a panel on “Evolving news media landscapes in India and Pakistan” at Brown University.

Read “India-Pak Relations: What the Kafkaesque Case of a Repatriated Cattle-Herder Tells Us”

Watch the Brown University panel.