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by Alex Russell

Journalism is not always a safe profession.

Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was arrested and recently convicted of espionage by an Iranian court. Just last month, journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling were detained by the North Korean government and are to be put on trial for undisclosed crimes. American journalists are being arrested by foreign governments and clear US-government action to protect them is non-existent.

Journalists take risks reporting from places like Iran and North Korea. The State Department has issued a travel warning for Iran, and reports the Iranian government has detained and charged American scientists, academics and journalist in the past. American travel to North Korea is restricted. Still, journalists go to these places to bring back the stories of those who live there. This is a unique courage among journalists—a willingness to give voice to people’s untold stories despite the risks involved.

There seems to be a trend toward understanding between the US government and countries—North Korea, Iran, and Cuba, for example—with which it has historically been at odds. Journalists of all kinds are taking steps to show Americans the lives of those who live in these countries. It was a surprise when Rick Steves, Public Television travel show host and Pacific Northwest treasure, recently filmed in Iran about the country’s people, culture and deep history with hopes for an increased cross-cultural understanding. In North Korea, well… At least they still have a ways to go with their missile system development.

In the United States, a free press is a fundamental element of our democracy. It gives voice to otherwise marginalized lives. It makes the workings of government and capitalist enterprise transparent and accountable, which can reinforce the strength of these kinds of organizational enterprises or bring them down. It’s unclear exactly what stories Saberi, Lee and Ling were reporting, but according to reports it was on the people of these nations and not the governments. What this says about the Iran and North Korean governments surely creates another facet to the ongoing debates around American foreign policy, which I have not set out to engage here.

Relations between the United States and countries like Iran and North Korea are getting better. Still, incidents like the arrests of Saberi, Lee and Ling are tragedies. When journalists, whatever country they report from, are arrested and subsequently silenced by a government, it’s a tragedy on all sides—for Americans seeking to know the stories of a people kept from us, as well as for the people living under a government that wants to keep their stories silent. The best we can do, aside from pressuring our politicians and policymakers to protect our citizens, aside from staging popular protests wherever we are, is to tell this story, to make sure it is not, too, silenced.