This is the balance of the media and journalists (in the US) in 2023
Source: Poynter Institute
By Tom Jones
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a Moscow City Courtroom in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)
Media Person of the Year
On March 29 of this year, Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested and detained in Russia. Nearly 270 days later, Gershkovich remains in prison, charged with espionage. But he is not a spy. He is a journalist, a reporter simply doing his job when he became a political pawn.
Throughout history, being a journalist has been a dangerous and sometimes deadly job. And in the year 2023, it remains as dangerous as ever.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that 81 journalists and media workers were killed in 2023. Some 362 were imprisoned last year. Another 65 are missing worldwide. All those numbers could rise in the last week of the year.
Gershkovich depicts the dangers of being a journalist, but also provides inspiration, showing that there are those who are willing to dedicate their lives to shedding light on the truth for all to see.
The United States continues to work for Gershkovich's release, but in what appear to be sham proceedings, Gershkovich continues to be denied his freedom and remains in a Russian prison. No one knows whether the time he will remain there will be measured in days, months or years.
Until then, the plea remains, "Free Evan."
To keep his story in the spotlight and join in his fight, as well as to remember and honor all journalists who have lost life or freedom just for doing their job, Poynter's Media Person of the Year is Evan Gershkovich.
Media Story of the Year.
X marks the spot. Actually, X marked Twitter's new name. Idiot-in-chief Elon Musk changed the name of the social networking site he bought for $44 billion in October 2022 and was quick to offend users, hemorrhage money, scare off advertisers and practically turn what used to be a valuable form of communication and information into, all too often, a toxic, filthy cesspool. Welcomed back former President Donald Trump. Amplified anti-Semitic publications and various conspiracy theories. He told advertisers to go whistle themselves. He may be rich, famous and even influential, but you have to ask: are his words, actions and still powerful social network making the world a better or worse place?
Most disappointing
While Musk was setting Twitter/X on fire just for its chaos, there were hopes that Threads could replace X as the go-to social networking site for journalists, news and current events. Run by Meta and with the advantage of having millions of immediate users, it seemed Threads had the best chance yet to make Musk and X irrelevant, or at least give them good competition. But that hasn't happened. Threads still exists and may just need more time. But, for now, he hasn't come close to replacing X.
after a dogged report by Theo Baker of the school's student newspaper, The Stanford Daily. The Stanford Daily won the George Polk 2022 award for its work on this story. It was the first time an independent student-run newspaper had won that highly prestigious award. Baker was also honored with a "Special Award."
