United States: Journalist Jessika Aro’s Award Revoked After Her Posts Critical Of The Trump Administration

Location: United States, Washington
Date: September 26, 2020

Finnish journalist Jessika Aro who was awarded the International Women of Courage award was notified earlier this week that at the request of eight Senators, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) decided to revoke her award.

The Senators who requested the revokal questioned the accuracy of statements the Department made to the public concerning the award. While various media articles had reported the award had been withdrawn due to her past social media posts critical of the President, the

Department denied that it had withdrawn the award, instead asserted that Jessika Aro had never been selected to receive the award in the first place and that her non-selection was for other reasons.

There is no statutory or regulatory guidance regarding this award, and the only criteria governing the processes surrounding the award are set forth in a nominating cable issued by the Department office responsible for overseeing the award process. However, after notification but prior to the award ceremony, Department officials discovered “disconcerting” social media postings by Jessika, some of which were critical of the current President, and, because of these, decided to rescind the award.

Jessika Aro, has indeed been critical of the President especially when it comes to his treatment of the press. In one tweet from 2018, Jessika said Mr Trump “constantly labels journalists as ‘enemy’ and ‘fake news.,'" the report by the Department said. In another from the same year Jessika Aro said it would be “sweet” that Mr Trump and Mr Putin would be meeting in Helsinki, Finland, so that “Finnish people can protest them both.”
OIG found that decisions as to award recipients are governed solely by the guidance in the nominating cable and are wholly within the Department’s discretion and that the Department’s decision to rescind the award appeared to be an authorized exercise of its discretion. However, the Department initially stated to the public and to Congressional staff that Jessika Aro was incorrectly notified of the selection and, when asked direct questions, refused to acknowledge that her social media posts factored into the decision. The Department subsequently provided more information in response to a congressional question for the record in which it acknowledged that, in general, a nominee’s social media posts is one factor reviewed when determining eligibility for an IWOC award.

Intolerance to criticism is seen all around the world by leaders who are insecure about their governance of their respective countries. During his time as the President of the United States, Donald Trump time and again insulted, intimidated and undermined the press and especially targeted women journalists. The Coalition For Women In Journalism respects the autonomous decision making process by the Department of the State concerning awards, however finds this odd decision to rescind the award of Jessika Aro retaliatory in nature.

The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.

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