Nov 12 Update from APFF President
The election of a president who routinely threatens journalists and immigrants offers a challenge for a program focused on journalists in exile.
I signed on to a letter earlier this year with many other journalism programs, promising that Alfred Friendly Press Partners would help journalists who were displaced. Thousands of journalists have arrived on American shores after facing both physical and legal harassment in places like Nicaragua, Venezuela and Belarus.
Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was in jail in Russia at the time. While he’s now free, there are many others. Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong media owner and free press advocate, remains in a Chinese prison.
We don’t know whether election rhetoric will turn into reality, but our organization is already thinking of how to deal with what has happened.
Journalists in exile have seen the worst of autocracy. Those in our program have been beaten and shot. They’ve had their homes ransacked and family members assaulted. Our program deals with the walking wounded, psychologically and physically.
In the few days since the election, here’s what I’m hearing:
Reports of racist hate mail from unknown sources is landing in the electronic mailboxes of young African Americans and Hispanics. CNN reports that mail is showing up in 20 states so far.
Widespread worry about the separation of Hispanic families. One of our former fellows told me that a large school in Maryland, which serves a Hispanic population, has rapidly converted classrooms into counseling spaces.
We expect there’ll be many other issues. Instead of waiting for our program to begin next year, we are working on addressing these problems as they come up. Hence, you’ll see new sessions addressing these issues in coming months.
Our foundation will remain resilient to what may come and remain hopeful. Our goal is to help journalists in exile (all in the US legally) recover from their wounds, earn a living as a journalist and keep informing our world about critical events.
Randy Smith
President, Alfred Friendly Press Partners
randy@presspartners.org