A hundred media outlets and journalists’ associations have signed a statement asking the US government to withdraw its previously announced plans to shorten the duration of visas for foreign journalists to less than one year.
“The proposal to limit visas to 240 days would disrupt a proven system, create instability for correspondents and their families, and reduce the quantity and quality of coverage from the United States,” the statement said.
According to the signatories, the current visas, which allow stays of up to five years, “have for decades ensured that international journalists can accurately report on live and breaking news in the United States.”
A note from the Spanish news agency EFE published on the website www.latinus.us makes the argument that “by spending years, not months, on the ground, journalists gain the deep knowledge, trusted networks, and contextual immersion necessary to explain the United States to global audiences.”
According to the signatories, shortening visas to less than a year would worsen reporting on the United States, and rival nations and powerful adversaries “will waste no time” in filling that void with stories about the country that serve their own interests “rather than the truth.”
Signatories include the European Broadcasting Union, Agence France Presse (AFP), Reuters, the Latin American News Alliance, Australian television ABC, Radio Televisión Española (RTVE), the Vocento Group, Reporters Without Borders, and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
