New Report: Media Freedom in US Under Threat

Note: The report published today and linked below was co-published by the following organizations:

• ARTICLE 19
• Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
• IFEX
• Index on Censorship
• International Press Institute (IPI)
• Reporters Without Borders (RSF – Reporters Sans Frontières).

From the News Release:

The United States media – one of the best protected in the world – is facing challenges that threaten the freedom of the press. This is the finding of an unprecedented press freedom mission that took place in January 2018, one year after President Donald J. Trump’s inauguration.
The mission’s report was published on 3 May, 2018, World Press Freedom Day. It shows that President Trump’s attacks on the media, via his Twitter account and in press conferences, are exacerbating an already hostile environment for journalists in the US.
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Other major threats to media freedom in the US include:

• A failure by law enforcement officials to recognize the rights of journalists to report freely on events of public interest. Journalists have been arrested and even assaulted by law enforcement officials at a local and state level, while covering protests.
• An increase in border stop and searches. Journalists have been asked to hand over electronic devices, detained or even denied entry to the US.
• A slow and unresponsive freedom of information system, which is preventing the release of information that is in the public interest.

Direct to Full Text Report (32 pages; PDF)

Direct to Complete News Release

Filed under: Associations and Organizations, News