Strasbourg 23.10.2024 “…Russia lacks any respect for media freedom inside its own country. It also blatantly disrespects protection of journalists in conflict zones. Inside the country, the space for media has dramatically shrunk after the start of full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Many media outlets were forced to terminate their operations, the majority of independent journalists have left the country, and many are actually being persecuted” said Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, on behalf of the EU top diplomat Josep Borrell. (Image above: illustration)

“It is this appalling crackdown on independent media but also spilled over to the frontline and the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia. It is [also] there that Russia harasses, intimidates and uses violence against journalists and media workers.

“This is exactly what you’d think it is. This is a clear attempt to silence them in order not to let the world receive full and impartial information about what is actually going on. They are trying to prevent the exposure of Russian state-sponsored disinformation about [the] war they wage in Ukraine.

“According to Reporters without Borders, more than 100 journalists have been victims of Russian crimes since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. This includes at least 35 wounded, 12 detained, as well as 233 media outlets closed in the territories temporarily occupied by Russia.” The debate with Members of European parliament (MEPs) followed.

The debate on journalists takes place in an overall grim situation of distrust of general public in media. According to recent Gallup research the 32% of Americans who say they trust the mass media “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to report the news in a full, fair and accurate way ties Gallup’s lowest historical reading, previously recorded in 2016. Although trust in media currently matches the historical low, it was statistically similar in 2021 (36%) and 2022 (34%).

Another 29% of U.S. adults have “not very much” trust, while a record-high 39% register “none at all.” This nearly four in 10 Americans who completely lack confidence in the media is the highest on record by one percentage point. It is 12 points higher than the 2016 reading, which came amid sharp criticism of the media from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump — making the current assessment of the media the grimmest in Gallup’s history. In 2016, U.S. adults were most likely to say they had “not very much” trust (41%).