'Time' Person Of The Year For 2018: Journalists Under Attack In 'War On Truth'

Time magazine has chosen journalists fighting against a "war on truth" as its Person of the Year for 2018. Its upcoming edition highlights the murdered Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the slain staffers of the Capital Gazette, along with journalists who have been punished for attempting to report facts: Filipina editor Maria Ressa and Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo.

The journalists are being featured on four different covers, with solemn black and white portraits. Time calls them "guardians" in a struggle against lies and misinformation that has pit news agencies against political groups and governments. Because Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are in jail, their photos were held by their wives, Pan Ei Mon and Chit Su Win.

The issues will hit newsstands later this month, in the final edition of the weekly magazine for 2018.

In addition to the four main recipients, Time noted a number of other examples of journalists being attacked as they tried to do their jobs, with prominent examples ranging from Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam to journalist Amal Habani in Sudan, reporter Patricia Campos Mello in Brazil, and Financial Times editor Victor Mallet in Hong Kong.

"Worldwide, a record number of journalists—262 in total—were imprisoned in 2017, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which expects the total to be high again this year," Time says.

While attacks on the press in Mexico, the Philippines, and Venezuela have drawn widespread concern, the United States has also become a battleground in the war on "fake news" — a term that refers to propaganda, but which President Trump and others use to refer to stories that don't match their views, and/or portray them in a negative light.

This year, the U.S. fell to No. 45 in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, putting it behind Romania and South Korea. The index measures the "level of freedom of information"; two years ago, the U.S. was ranked 41st out of 180 countries.

Here's a recap of the journalists' stories that are being highlighted by Time:

"We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow."

After five people were killed in its Annapolis, Md., newsroom in June, reporter Chase Cook of the Capital Gazette news outlet was defiant, in a sentiment that bolstered his colleagues. The paper's journalists had continued to report and share information, even after the devastating attack.

"I'm going to hold my government accountable for publicly calling me a criminal."

Maria Ressa, CEO of the digital news outlet Rappler, flew home to the Philippines last week despite facing arrest and a possible 10-year prison term. The former CNN bureau chief had been visiting the U.S. to accept prestigious journalism awards.

"Today is a sad day for Myanmar, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, and the press everywhere."

The two journalists were sentenced to seven years in prison in September, on charges they illegally possessed official documents — which the news agency says they had neither sought nor read. Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler noted his agency's reporters had already been in prison for nearly nine months when they were sentenced.

"His corpse has still not been found."

Slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul as he tried to arrange paperwork for his wedding — and his fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, said her pain has not eased, because he has not been buried. Last week, Senate leaders who were briefed by CIA Director Gina Haspel said they're convinced Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind the killing.

This is the second consecutive year Time has selected a group of people as "Person of the Year," after the 2017 winner, the #MeToo movement.

In choosing the recipient, the magazine seeks to recognize the most influential newsmakers who also represent what was most important about a specific year — "for better or for worse," as Time's former Managing Editor Walter Isaacson wrote in 1998.

The shortlist of candidates for the 2018 award ranged from President Trump to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and from families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border to the March for Our Lives activists against mass shootings. Those in the running also included Black Panther director Ryan Coogler and Christine Blasey Ford, who came forward with sexual assault allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

In recent years, "Person of the Year" winners have included Donald Trump (2016), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2015), and Ebola fighters (2014). [Copyright 2018 NPR]