Report: Most journalist detainments this year are at protests
In 2025, 90% of arrests or detainments occurred while journalists were covering demonstrations
Kirstin McCudden
Kirstin is the chief of editorial for Freedom of the Press Foundation, overseeing the organization’s editorial strategy and standards. She manages the editing, audience, and U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reporting teams. Kirstin holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from the University of Missouri and has more than 25 years of experience in print and digital journalism. She lives in New York City.
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Celebrating 5 years since launch of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker
Today marks five years since we launched the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a project of Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Committee to Protect Journalists.In our six years of documentation — the canonical database for press freedom violations in the United States dates to January 2017 — …
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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.