04 Apr 18 | Media Freedom, media freedom featured, News and features
Read the report here
This post was originally published by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
The most perilous place for a journalist in the U.S. last year was at a protest, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press that surveys the 2017 data from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Of the 122 incidents threatening press freedom that the tracker logged last year, nearly half occurred at protests, where journalists faced physical attacks from police and demonstrators, were arrested by law enforcement, and had their equipment seized and, in some cases, searched.
The Reporters Committee and more than two dozen press freedom groups launched the tracker last year to provide “an honest accounting of the country’s record on press freedoms” amid increasing hostility toward the news media. The report, “Press Freedoms in the United States 2017,” is the Reporters Committee’s first annual assessment of the tracker’s data and sheds light on the challenges facing journalists as they work to inform the public and hold those in power accountable.
According to the report, law enforcement officials arrested journalists 34 times, with more than three-quarters of those arrests taking place at protests, where police used a controversial crowd-control technique known as “kettling.” Of the 45 physical attacks on journalists in 2017, two were notably committed by elected officials: Montana congressional candidate Greg Gianforte “body slammed” a reporter who tried to interview him but was nevertheless elected the next day, and an Alaska state senator slapped a reporter in the state capitol building. The tracker also identified instances where journalists were stopped while crossing U.S. borders, denied access to public meetings and information, subpoenaed to testify in court, and subjected to unprecedented verbal attacks from public officials, often at the highest levels of government.
The report also notes that in 2017, the Department of Justice only brought charges in one case involving disclosure of classified information to the media, that of Reality Winner. However, the DOJ has said it is investigating 27 leak cases as of November 2017, and just days ago charged a former FBI agent in Minnesota in connection with a leak investigation, potentially indicating more prosecutions may be forthcoming.
Read the full report here.
02 Aug 17 | Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured, Media Freedom, media freedom featured
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
US Press Freedom Tracker
Index on Censorship joined more than 20 press freedom organisations announcing the launch today of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a new nonpartisan website dedicated to documenting press freedom abuses across the United States.
In recent months, journalists have been charged with crimes while covering protests in Washington D.C. and North Dakota; stopped at the border and subjected to searches of their electronic devices; and physically assaulted, in one case by a congressional candidate. Data collected on the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker shows that 19 journalists have been arrested in the course of their work in 2017 and that at least 10 reporters are currently facing charges. In 2017 at least four journalists have been stopped at the border and 11 have faced physical attacks, according to the tracker. These numbers may increase as we receive new information.
“While the focus has been on the Trump administration’s relationship with the press, American journalists have encountered more widespread obstacles to reporting — from violent protesters to police harassment — across the country as we detailed in our US report, researched and compiled with the methodology we developed for Mapping Media Freedom, our three-year-old database monitoring press freedom violations in 42 European area countries,” Melody Patry, head of advocacy at Index on Censorship, said.
“The United States has some of the strongest legal protections for press freedom in the world and a robust and varied media landscape, but this cannot be taken for granted. Open hostility, threats of leak prosecutions, and arrests have created a precarious situation for journalists,” said Alex Ellerbeck, senior research associate for the U.S. at the Committee to Protect Journalists and chair of the steering committee for the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “A full and honest accounting of challenges to press freedom in this country is sorely needed.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker collects data based on news reports and tips submitted by journalists, professional organisations, and press freedom organisations. The coalition behind the tracker will use the research in letters, legal briefs, and advocacy campaigns.
“With the Trump administration ramping up its war on journalism, this initiative could not come at a more important time,” said Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. “We hope it will be vital to highlighting the threats to press freedom in the U.S. and the important work journalists do to hold the government accountable.”
About the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker
Led by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Freedom of the Press Foundation, the site will serve as a central repository for data at a time when journalists in the U.S. are facing increased hostility. Freedom of the Press Foundation is leading the day-to-day operations of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, with its senior reporter, Peter Sterne, serving as the managing editor. The Committee to Protect Journalists is providing the initial funding and chairing the steering committee. The steering committee also includes representatives from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Knight Institute at Columbia University, Reporters Without Borders and Index on Censorship. A full list of partners is on the website.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1501680559388-7ab4706a-4916-9″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
