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Journalism of Courage
The Winter Olympics 2022 kicked off in China amid strict Covid-19 protocols in Beijing on Friday. Amid the fanfare, a shocking incident of a Dutch journalist being pulled away from his live broadcast by security forces has gone viral on social media, leading to outrage.
Sjoerd den Daas, a reporter covering the Games for NOS, was seen interrupted while on air and led away by multiple police officials. As he tries to continue speaking, a stunned host back in the studio is seen watching the events unfold before cutting away.
Footage of the incident quickly went viral across social media platforms, with netizens criticising China for its treatment of free and foreign press.
The news outlet took to Twitter to reassure audiences that the reporter was “fine”, and that he had returned on air a few minutes later. “Unfortunately, this is increasingly becoming a daily reality for journalists in China. He is fine and was able to finish his story a few minutes later,” they wrote.
The media outlet, however, didn’t clarify immediately why den Daas was interrupted. NOS editor-in-chief Marcel Gelauff told Algemeen Dagblad the incident was a “painful illustration” of how China treats journalists”.
“Sjoerd has often told and shown that it is difficult as a journalist in China. There is a far-reaching tendency to curtail freedoms, and this may be even stronger because of Corona,” Gelauff said as per The Daily Beast.
Here’s how the internet has reacted to the incident:
Not just athletes, but members of the press in Beijing have been subjected to strict pandemic protocols before and during their time in the city, including the mandatory use of a health-monitoring app and daily RT-PCR tests.
