US state department bars NPR reporter from flight, calls media 'unhinged'

[BeckyDem]

January 28, 2020 3:00 PM ET

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. State Department should allow reporters from National Public Radio to cover the department freely and without harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On January 24, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo berated NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly following an interview, according to a report from the broadcaster. The next day, the State Department issued a statement on its website, signed by Pompeo, which accused Kelly of lying and referred to the country’s media as “unhinged.”

Pompeo’s comments came after Kelly asked questions about U.S.-Ukrainian relations during an interview, according to NPR’s report.

Yesterday, the department barred Michele Kelemen, an NPR correspondent, from traveling aboard Pompeo’s plane as a radio pool reporter on an upcoming trip to Europe and Central Asia, according to news reports. NPR said it was not given a reason for Keleman’s exclusion, according to those reports.

“A public announcement under the seal of the Department of State carries great weight and should be used to defend press freedom, not berate or belittle a reporter for diligently doing her job. The treatment of NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly and the exclusion of Michele Keleman from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s plane are disturbing. At the very least, they and NPR are owed an explanation,” said CPJ’s Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney, in New York.

https://cpj.org/2020/01/us-state-department-bars-npr-reporter-from-flight-.php

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Fascists call their lapdogs "unhinged"

[BeckyDem]

3. Consistently too.

[marybourg]

2. The usual trump projection.