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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is probably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted sanctions and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to exist without fear and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual global journalism honors. My message at the event is the same as my one for the president: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.