Champions of press freedom: US Embassy interferes with our headlines

We have received a "respectful" request from the empire of ambassador Pressman.

Borítókép: David Pressman amerikai nagykövet (Fotó: Dunántúli Napló/Laufer László)

But there are two problems with all this.

The smaller one is content-related. On the one hand, no newspapers are produced based on US immigration law. And if we open a dictionary, we'll learn that a "sanction is a legal, political or economic measure taken by one country or organization against another, usually to pressure or punish it."

And this is precisely what's happening. Even the US Embassy's own statement issued this morning says that the validity period for US travel by Hungarian passport holders is "reduced" or "limited." The reason, they say, is because Hungary's government has not delivered on goals set by the embassy. Once again, the terms used by the embassy are it "has oped not to address" or its "decision not to fully address..."

Sanctions are punitive measures, and Hungarians are now being punished.

The second, more serious problem relates to the much talked about issue of press freedom, which is brought up ever more frequently by the US.

After all, why would a foreign mission have anything to do with what appears in the headlines of a daily newspaper?

 (Except, of course, in cases defined by law, for example when there's a clear violation of someone's right to honor and reputation.) And in case we're trailing the US in this department, since when is this a valid criterion in America?

By a few clicks and moving the mouse, our colleague could easily rephrase the headline. But he won't. Nor will our editorial staff use the embassy's assistance, offered rather chidingly at the end of their letter, should there be any additional issues that their fact-checkers could help us clarify. We reject the offer, "respectfully," of course.

Cover photo: US Ambassador David Pressman (Photo: Dunantuli Naplo/Laszlo Laufer)