Newsweek Turns To NYT To Advocate For Arrested Journo

It is a measure of the power the New York Times op-ed pages still possess — despite the financial struggles both the paper and the industry face — that Jon Meacham editor of Newsweek opted to turn to them to advocate for the release of Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari.

Bahari was arrested under trumped-up charges back in June whilst covering the Iran protests for Newsweek. Shortly thereafter Newsweek called for his release, to no avail. In August, after Bill Clinton’s headline grabbing trip to North Korea, Newsweek again highlighted Bahari’s detainment at the hands of the Iranian’s (along with the fact he and his wife are expecting their first child this fall). Again to little avail.

On Saturday, Meacham took to the op-ed pages of the New York Times to make his case ahead of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad‘s visit to the UN at the end of the month, perhaps in an effort to reach a wider, more connected audience. The Times may be weakened and struggling but it’s hard to argue it still top dog when you want people to listen up. From his editorial:

Mr. Ahmadinejad is likely to be greeted by protesters in New York, and as usual, he will dismiss them. But this year the real protest should take place inside the chamber, with governments condemning the arbitrary and unjustified detention of a foreign journalist. If Iran wants to be taken seriously on the world stage, it needs to adhere to international standards. Journalists need to be free to report within the legal framework of the country. Foreign governments need to be granted consular access to their citizens. Prisoners need to be granted access to their lawyers, and either charged or released quickly.