A Russia Today news anchor made the bold decision to quit her job on Wednesday – during a live broadcast. The grandchild of Hungarian refugees who fled Soviet oppression, Liz Wahl said she is “proud to be an American” and could no longer “be a part of a network that whitewashes the actions of Putin” before singing off the network for good.
Last night, Glenn shared the story on Facebook, calling Wahl a “hero” and questioning whether journalists at American news networks would be willing to stand up in a similar way in light of the Obama Administration prosecution and targeting of reporters. He took a similar stance on radio this morning.
Check out Wahl’s on-air resignation in the clip below:
“I think that is remarkable," Glenn said. "Now, if you go the easy place and say, you know, nobody is watching Russia Today, so it's not really a big deal… No, no, no. She's making an impact with what she said… because we are replaying it, and I think this is fantastic.”
While it might be easy to understand why an American journalist would cease working with an outlet like Russia Today, it is important to consider the state of press freedom in the United States as well. When the group Reporters Without Borders ranked the United States number 46 in the world for press freedom, citing the U.S. government’s investigations into various newsrooms, many gawked. But, under Obama Administration, freedom of the press is not what it used to be.
As Glenn explained, wouldn’t it be nice if more journalists stood up and said: It is time for the government to stop interfering with the press:
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a journalist or two that cared about the Fourth Amendment or the First Amendment enough to say, ‘Hey… They were threatening my friends, my journalist friends. They are spying on their parents. The NSA is violating the Fourth Amendment, and I know what's going on. But I'm an American first. I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a progressive. I'm not a Republican. I'm not a TEA Party person. I'm an American. And there are certain truths that we used to hold self-evident. And here they are: You can't spy on us… We don't squash people voices in America. And it's important that all voices are heard. Yes, even Al Jazeera. Yes, even Russia Today. Yes, those voices have a place and they can be heard.’”
Wouldn't it be nice if a journalist said, ‘You know what? The New York Times won't accept a picture from an outside source… and yet the President is boxing us out of the White House. We don't get our photojournalists in. Our photojournalists aren't going in and taking those pictures. Those are his photojournalists, and they're not journalists. They are his photographers. We're not getting candid pictures anymore. We're getting set up propaganda film from the White House. We don't get to go into the White House and tape these things anymore. Wouldn't you love to hear a journalist stand up and say that?