Featured Items
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Another record year for press-freedom violations in the US
While we did not see the scope of national social-justice protests of 2020—a year in which journalists were arrested or assaulted on average more than once a day—2021 still outpaced the years before it for press-freedom violations. We systematically capture this data in the US Press Freedom Tracker, where Freedom of the Press Foundation, in partnership with the Committee to Protect Journalists and other press freedom groups, has documented aggressions against journalists in the United States since 2017.
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More than 60 journalists have sued police after protest arrests or assaults
More than 60 journalists have sued police after arrests or assaults at protests, according to new analysis from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. That total amounts to 82% of the lawsuits filed by journalist or media outlet plaintiffs against public officials.
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Report: More than 50 journalists arrested or detained while on the job in the US in 2021
The 56 journalists arrested or detained in the United States in 2021 approaches the combined totals of 2017, 2018, and 2019 — an alarming indicator of the state of press freedom, according to a new report released by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
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Documenting an extraordinary year of press freedom violations
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has published an overview of a truly remarkable year’s worth of press freedom violations during nationwide protests. The Tracker builds on individually reported incidents to provide the definitive telling of the crackdown on journalists that emerged alongside the protests.
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Intimidation tactic: Police photograph faces, press passes of journalists covering protests
Law enforcement officers have photographed the faces or IDs of nearly three dozen journalists in Oregon and Minnesota in recent months, according to new data published by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. These measures don’t appear to serve any law enforcement purpose beyond intimidating reporters who are doing their job.
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LAPD's flagrant disregard for freedom of the press
After a tumultuous 2020 saw unprecedented numbers of journalists arrested and detained, some held hope that police departments would learn from public backlash and change their behavior. In a coordinated crackdown on protests that included the arrest or detention of more than a dozen journalists, the Los Angeles Police Department showed last week that it has done no such thing.
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Iowa reporter Andrea Sahouri acquitted on charges that never should have been brought in the first place
A jury in Polk County, Iowa voted to acquit reporter Andrea Sahouri after she was arrested last summer while covering a protest. The case has been widely criticized by press freedom and human rights advocates around the world.
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Arrested for covering protests, four journalists are due in court this month
At least four journalists around the country will face trial this month following their arrests while covering Black Lives Matter protests, part of the unprecedented number of legal detentions of reporters in 2020.
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Here’s how we impacted press freedom in 2020, a harrowing year for journalists
Freedom of the Press Foundation releases its 2020 Impact Report, outlining the work we’ve accomplished in the past year, an overview of our major projects and initiatives, and how we will be expanding on our work in 2021.
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New report: A record breaking number of journalists arrested in the U.S. this year
New report, "U.S. Press Freedom in Crisis: Journalists Under Arrest in 2020," details how more than 117 journalists were arrested across the country in 2020.