HTTP 200 OK
Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET,OPTIONS,HEAD
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Allow: GET, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Link:
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?format=api>; rel="first",
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?cursor=cD0yMDI1LTAyLTAzLTQyYWQ5OWI0LWU5NWYtMTFlZi1hNzczLTk2MWJjYzAwNDk2Mw%3D%3D&format=api>; rel="next"
Vary: Accept
[
{
"title": "Trump administration, allies move to punish outlets during his second term",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-administration-allies-move-to-punish-outlets-during-first-weeks-in-office/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-30T20:43:36.335430Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-12T13:50:31.245405Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-12T13:46:41.101262Z",
"date": "2025-03-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"63pix\">From the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term, his appointees and allies in Congress took steps to punish and intimidate news outlets that have covered him and his administration unfavorably. We’re documenting those efforts to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more in this regularly updated report.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<b>The latest:</b> <a href=\"#Latest\">March 9, 2025 | DHS secretary pledges to use lie detectors to identify leakers</a><p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><p><a id=\"top\" name=\"top\"></a></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"3ocum\">Administration officials and members of Congress who’ve targeted the news media (listed alphabetically)</h4></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#Carr\">Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission</a><p> \r\n<p><a href=\"#Greene\">Marjorie Taylor Greene, U.S. representative</a><p> \r\n<p><a href=\"#Leavitt\">Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary</a><p>\r\n<p><a href=\"#Noem\">Kristi Noem, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security\r\n</a><p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3ocum\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"a5gu5\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><a id=\"Carr\" name=\"Carr\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h3 data-block-key=\"3ocum\">Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission</h3></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media left\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP23172686742019.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"551\" alt=\"Sipa USA/Graeme Sloan via AP Images\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"zl2k0\">The Federal Communications Commission’s Brendan Carr testifies during an oversight hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., in June 2023.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — Sipa USA/Graeme Sloan via AP Images\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3ocum\"><b><i>Feb. 11, 2025</i></b> <b><i>|</i></b> <b><i>FCC opens investigation into NBC parent over DEI program</i></b></p><p data-block-key=\"8bsve\">FCC Chair Brendan Carr, in a Feb. 11, 2025, <a href=\"https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/Chairman-Carr-Letter%20to-Comcast-02112025.pdf\">letter</a> to NBC News parent Comcast, said the agency would launch an investigation into the company’s promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.</p><p data-block-key=\"tmdm\">“The FCC will be taking fresh action to ensure that every entity the FCC regulates complies with the civil rights protections enshrined in the Communications Act,” Carr’s letter read, “including by shutting down any programs that promote invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3df0t\">President Donald Trump has made eliminating DEI programs a pillar of his second term, signing an <a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-protects-civil-rights-and-merit-based-opportunity-by-ending-illegal-dei/\">executive order</a> eliminating such programs in the federal government on Jan. 22 and pressuring private companies to follow suit. PBS News <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/benmullin.bsky.social/post/3lhu6bpgyb22s\">told employees</a> on Feb. 11 that it was eliminating its DEI office to be in compliance with the administration’s policy.</p><p data-block-key=\"5u6ng\">Tom Wheeler, a former chair of the FCC, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/business/media/fcc-comcast-nbc-dei-discrimination.html\">told The New York Times</a> that this latest investigation fits a pattern of Carr using the commission’s authority to advance Trump’s political aims.</p><p data-block-key=\"98he5\">“It’s clear that what is going on here is — whether it be Comcast and DEI or NPR and PBS, or CBS and the ‘60 Minutes’ interview — is how can you use the coercive authority of regulation to accomplish the goals of your master and mentor, Donald Trump?” Wheeler said.</p><p data-block-key=\"56cmm\"><b><i>Feb. 5, 2025 | FCC opens investigation into California radio station</i></b></p><p data-block-key=\"5kial\">FCC Chair Brendan Carr launched an investigation into San Francisco, California, radio station KCBS on Feb. 5, 2025, after the station broadcast the locations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during operations in the San Jose area, Fox News <a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/media/fcc-launches-probe-soros-backed-radio-station-revealed-live-locations-undercover-ice-agents\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4dodb\">Carr told Fox that he believes KCBS may have violated licensing rules requiring broadcasters to operate in the “public interest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c28ri\">Carr had <a href=\"https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/company-news/2024/09/30/soros-backed-group-wins-fcc-approval-for-us-radio-stations/\">previously opposed</a> the transfer of the station’s license, following Republican scrutiny of the ownership role of billionaire investor George Soros, a Democratic megadonor whose nonprofit now controls the broadcasting outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ufvv\"><b><i>Jan. 29, 2025 | FCC opens investigations into NPR, PBS; calls on CBS to turn over interview transcript</i></b></p><p data-block-key=\"1s1o0\">FCC Chair Brendan Carr informed public broadcasters NPR and PBS on Jan. 29, 2025, that he had initiated an investigation into the news outlets, <a href=\"https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/340343f285781674/6da3eb69-full.pdf\">suggesting</a> that they may have violated federal law by airing commercial advertisements. A copy of the letter was also shared with members of Congress, Carr wrote, because of its potential relevance to ongoing debates.</p><p data-block-key=\"detq2\">“In particular, Congress is actively considering whether to stop requiring taxpayers to subsidize NPR and PBS programming,” the letter read. “For my own part, I do not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS given the changes in the media marketplace since the passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dif05\">That same day, the FCC sent a letter of inquiry to CBS News demanding that the outlet turn over the “full, unedited transcript and camera feeds” from a Kamala Harris interview on “60 Minutes” in October 2024, according to a <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-fcc-60-minutes/?intcid=CNR-02-0623\">statement</a> published by the broadcaster.</p><p data-block-key=\"f0e9k\">CBS said that it was working to comply with the inquiry, “as we are legally compelled to do.” The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was unable to obtain a copy of the inquiry as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"70sek\">A spokesperson for CBS <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/cbs-turns-over-documents-fcc-probe-into-then-vp-harris-60-minutes-interview-2025-02-04/\">told Reuters</a> that the news organization submitted the documents to the FCC on Feb. 3. In an <a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/video/6368206882112\">interview with Fox News</a>, Carr said he was “open minded as to potential consequences” and that he would consider releasing the transcript in the interest of transparency.</p><p data-block-key=\"3jqpb\">CBS <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-publishes-transcripts-video-requested-by-fcc/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7d&linkId=738794635\">published</a> the transcripts and video that it turned over to Carr on Feb. 5. “They show — consistent with 60 Minutes’ repeated assurances to the public — that the 60 Minutes broadcast was not doctored or deceitful,” the outlet wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9jbg\">The Harris interview was the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-filed-or-threatened-multiple-lawsuits-against-outlets-ahead-of-election/\">focus of a federal lawsuit</a> filed against CBS on behalf of President Donald Trump, which alleged the network had “doctored” the broadcast in an attempt to influence the presidential election. Trump had demanded the network release unedited tapes and transcripts. CBS has maintained the claims are false and the suit without merit.</p><p data-block-key=\"12ruc\"><b><i>Jan. 22, 2025 | FCC chair reinstates complaints against three news outlets</i></b></p><p data-block-key=\"vibj\">Brendan Carr, a Donald Trump appointee and the new chair of the Federal Communications Commission, reinstated complaints against multiple outlets that Trump targeted <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/all-the-presidents-invective/\">leading up to</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/media-in-the-courthouse/\">in the wake of</a> the election, alleging their reporting was biased and aimed at swaying favor toward his opponent.</p><p data-block-key=\"ht7q\">NPR <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/01/16/nx-s1-5262424/fcc-trump-tv-licenses-rosenworcel\">reported</a> that, shortly before leaving office, then-FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel dismissed complaints about appearances by Kamala Harris on CBS’ “60 Minutes” and NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” and about how ABC News moderated the debate between Trump and former President Joe Biden.</p><p data-block-key=\"995ib\">“We don’t have the luxury of doing anything other than making very, very clear that this agency and its licensing authority should not be weaponized in a way that is fundamentally at odds with the First Amendment,” Rosenworcel said. “This agency should not be the president’s speech police and this agency shouldn’t be journalism’s censor-in-chief.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a0k3v\">Rosenworcel also <a href=\"https://www.phillyvoice.com/fcc-dismisses-petition-fox-29-license-renewal-complaint-6abc/\">dismissed</a> a complaint against a Philadelphia Fox station for allegedly promoting lies about election fraud in the 2020 election.</p><p data-block-key=\"5f58a\">Carr took over as FCC chair on Jan. 20, and reinstated the complaints against ABC, CBS and NBC two days later. In a statement, the agency said that the complaints had been dismissed “prematurely based on an insufficient investigatory record,” <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/22/fcc-reinstates-complaints-abc-cbs-nbc\">according to The Guardian</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2esd2\">Carr had <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fcc-commissioner-accuses-media-ratings-provider-of-censorship/\">previously demonstrated</a> his willingness to target news outlets based on alleged bias, and he has supported Trump’s calls for NBC, CBS and ABC to lose their broadcast licenses over their alleged mistreatment of him, NPR<a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/11/17/nx-s1-5193064/fcc-chair-brendan-carr-trump\"> reported</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"Greene\" name=\"Greene\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h3 data-block-key=\"3ocum\">Marjorie Taylor Greene, U.S. representative</h3></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media left\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2021-06-14T223312Z_860724845_RC2M0O9KO00Q_RTRM.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"570\" alt=\"REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"zl2k0\">Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene holds a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., in June 2021.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3ocum\"><b><i>Feb. 3, 2025 | U.S. representative summons NPR, PBS to oversight hearing</i></b></p><p data-block-key=\"f210m\">Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene sent letters to the CEOs of public broadcasters <a href=\"https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Letter-to-Maher-NPR-020325.pdf\">NPR</a> and <a href=\"https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Letter-to-Paula-Kerger_PBS.-020325.pdf\">PBS</a> on Feb. 3, 2025, summoning them to testify in March before the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency.</p><p data-block-key=\"em5mg\">The letters both said that the subcommittee is concerned about the outlets’ “blatantly ideological and partisan coverage” and seeks to better understand their “position on providing Americans with accurate information.”</p><p data-block-key=\"70u16\">Greene specifically cited <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VfYjPzj1Xw\">PBS reporting on Elon Musk</a> making “what appeared to be a fascist salute” during the official post-inauguration celebration on Jan. 20, as well as NPR’s decision not to report on Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"a5960\">The news outlets’ reporting, Greene wrote, “should serve the entire public, not just a narrow slice of like-minded individuals and ideological interest groups.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bot5i\">NPR said in a <a href=\"https://www.vpm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2025-02-03/npr-statement-on-letter-from-subcommittee-on-doge\">statement</a> that it strives to hold itself to the highest standards of journalism, citing its publicly available standards and ethics guidelines, and the presence of a public editor.</p><p data-block-key=\"b60ou\">“We welcome the opportunity to discuss the critical role of public media in delivering impartial, fact-based news and reporting to the American public,” the statement said.</p><p data-block-key=\"iklk\">PBS did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"erg9d\"><b><i>Jan. 20, 2025 | U.S. representative threatens PBS funding</i></b></p><p data-block-key=\"3pet2\">Just hours after Donald Trump’s swearing-in on Jan. 25, 2025, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene <a href=\"https://x.com/RepMTG/status/1881479200672215171\">took to social media</a> to attack PBS News for <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VfYjPzj1Xw\">reporting</a> that Trump appointee Elon Musk gave “what appeared to be a fascist salute” while speaking at the official <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/capital-one-arena-takes-centre-stage-trumps-inauguration-2025-01-20/\">post-inauguration celebration</a> in Washington, D.C.</p><p data-block-key=\"b598s\">“As the Chairwoman of the Oversight Subcommittee on DOGE (Department of Government Oversight), I look forward to PBS @NewsHour coming before my committee and explaining why lying and spreading propaganda to serve the Democrat party and attack Republicans is a good use of taxpayer funds,” Greene posted. “We will be in touch soon.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5dto0\">Congress provides indirect grant support to PBS, as well as NPR, through funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, <a href=\"https://cpb.org/aboutcpb/financials/budget\">appropriating $535 million</a> for 2025. Trump’s first administration <a href=\"https://deadline.com/2020/02/donald-trump-public-media-pbs-npr-1202856498/\">proposed</a> eliminating all federal funding for PBS, and Trump made <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/28/trump-npr-pbs-funding-cut\">similar calls</a> on social media in the lead-up to the 2024 election.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"Leavitt\" name=\"Leavitt\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h3 data-block-key=\"3ocum\">Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary</h3></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media left\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25028719314192.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"552\" alt=\"Sipa USA/Annabelle Gordon via AP Images\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"zl2k0\">White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks at the first press briefing of the new Trump administration in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 28, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — Sipa USA/Annabelle Gordon via AP Images\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3ocum\"><b><i>Feb. 12, 2025 | White House defends AP ban, claims news agency is pushing ‘lies’</i></b></p><p data-block-key=\"2c4lu\">White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the barring of reporters for The Associated Press from multiple events at the White House during a news briefing on Feb. 12, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"qrou\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/katie_robertson/status/1889739177169670148/photo/1\">letter</a> objecting to the decision, AP Executive Editor Julie Pace wrote that Leavitt had warned the newsroom that its reporters would not be allowed to attend White House events if it didn’t align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ls50\">AP reporters were <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-reporters-barred-from-white-house-events-over-editorial-style-policy/\">barred from attending</a> multiple events between Feb. 11 and 13; it was unclear whether AP reporters would also be excluded from subsequent White House events.</p><p data-block-key=\"1nles\">“The actions taken by the White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech,” Pace wrote. “It is among the most basic tenets of the First Amendment that the government cannot retaliate against the public or the press for what they say. This is viewpoint discrimination based on a news organization’s editorial choices and a clear violation of the First Amendment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9knn0\">During a news briefing on Feb. 12, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/12/politics/video/collins-wh-briefing-ap-reporter-digvid\">asked</a> whether the decision to exclude the AP was “setting a precedent that this White House will retaliate against reporters who don’t use the language that you guys believe reporters should use.”</p><p data-block-key=\"emi\">Leavitt replied: “I was very upfront in my briefing on Day 1 that if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable. And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America. And I am not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that but that is what it is.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e5dd2\">The White House Correspondents’ Association quickly condemned the move, <a href=\"https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5141155-karoline-leavitt-ap-oval-office-gulf-of-america/\">according to The Hill</a>. “The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors’ decisions,” the WHCA said.</p><p data-block-key=\"3qct2\"><b><i>Jan. 28, 2025 | Press secretary echoes media lie accusations</i></b></p><p data-block-key=\"f5g97\">While President Donald Trump, in <a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-freedom-of-speech-and-ending-federal-censorship/\">one of his first executive orders</a>, extolled the importance of “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship,” an attitude of hostility toward the press was perpetuated by the White House itself.</p><p data-block-key=\"4m7iv\">Karoline Leavitt, in her <a href=\"https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/white-house-daily-briefing/655038\">first briefing</a> as press secretary Jan. 28, 2025, pushed Trump’s allegations that outlets had deliberately lied in order to hurt his campaign and administration.</p><p data-block-key=\"4dkpl\">“We know for a fact that there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in this country about this president, about his family, and we will not accept that. We will call you out when we feel that your reporting is wrong, or there is misinformation about this White House,” Leavitt said. “So yes, I will hold myself to the truth and I expect everyone in this room to do the same.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f8rou\">Leavitt also told reporters, “All of you once again have access to the most transparent and accessible president in American history.” But in what appears to be a snub to mainstream media, hard passes and access to the briefing room will also be extended to members of the “new media” — who Leavitt described as “independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators” — as long as they are producing “legitimate news content.”</p><p data-block-key=\"afsuu\">Leavitt did not respond directly to a question about how often she will be giving news briefings, which Trump <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-stops-regular-press-briefings-citing-unfair-media-treatment/\">halted</a> during the second half of his first term, citing unfair media treatment.</p><p data-block-key=\"26pa0\">“The president is the best spokesperson that this White House has,” Leavitt said, “and I can assure you that you will be hearing from both him and me as much as possible.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"Leavitt\" name=\"Noem\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h3 data-block-key=\"hfabv\">Kristi Noem, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security</h3></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media left\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2025-01-28T213415Z_1536812639_RC28JCAZL7XO_RTR.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"552\" alt=\"AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"ticha\">Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks to employees at department headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 28, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><a id=\"Latest\" name=\"Latest\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hfabv\"><b><i>March 9, 2025 | DHS secretary pledges to use lie detectors to identify leakers</i></b></p><p data-block-key=\"3d6j3\">Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem vowed during an <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kristi-noem-homeland-security-secretary-face-the-nation-transcript-03-09-2025/\">appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation”</a> on March 9, 2025, that the department would subject employees to polygraph exams as part of its investigation into the source of leaks to the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"er2cm\">Noem <a href=\"https://x.com/KristiNoem/status/1898099666245333409\">announced on March 7</a> that two individuals who allegedly leaked details about immigration enforcement operations have been identified and will face felony prosecution. She told CBS two days later that the leak investigations are ongoing and that she plans on using the full power of her office to ensure “that we’re following the law, that we are following the procedures in place to keep people safe.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9hf9i\">“Anyone who is leaking information outside of how something is planned for the safety of those law enforcement officers needs to be held accountable for that,” Noem added.</p><p data-block-key=\"9bkpl\">The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/ice-deportation-immigration-dhs-kristi-noem-leak-cf09189abaa6147a0c990225c2d27bad\">reported</a> that while polygraphs are not typically admissible in court, they are often used by federal law enforcement, including for national security clearances.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahofs\">“The Department of Homeland Security is a national security agency,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to the news agency. “We can, should, and will polygraph personnel.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4f25u\"><b><i>March 7, 2025 | DHS secretary threatens to sue South Dakota newspaper over coverage</i></b></p><p data-block-key=\"ai61n\">A personal attorney for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threatened on March 7, 2025, to sue The Dakota Scout, an independent newspaper based in Sioux City, South Dakota, after the outlet <a href=\"https://www.thedakotascout.com/p/sec-kristi-noems-use-of-taxpayer\">reported</a> on Noem’s use of two taxpayer-backed credit cards.</p><p data-block-key=\"cf248\">The Scout and KSFL-TV reviewed thousands of pages of credit card receipts totaling approximately $650,000 from Noem’s tenure as the state’s governor. The bulk of the expenses were on airfare, rental cars and hotel accommodations for Noem’s security detail, in connection with her appearances at campaign rallies and as a speaker at conservative events, according to the Scout.</p><p data-block-key=\"d4ds4\">In a cease and desist letter emailed to the Scout in the early hours of March 7, Noem’s personal lawyer Trevor Stanley alleged that the outlet had published “false, misleading, and inaccurate statements” concerning the spending, KSFL-TV <a href=\"https://www.siouxfallslive.com/news/sioux-falls/kristi-noem-threatens-to-sue-the-dakota-scout-over-credit-card-records\">reported</a>. Stanley specifically asserted that Noem had only personally charged $2,000, and demanded that the outlet stop reporting differently.</p><p data-block-key=\"12cpt\">“Otherwise, we will consider all legal remedies, including a lawsuit seeking maximum compensatory and punitive damages, that we estimate at millions of dollars,” Stanley wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"fnomr\">According to a <a href=\"https://www.thedakotascout.com/p/prisons-pipelines-and-pragmatism\">podcast</a> with Scout co-founders and reporters Joe Sneve and Jonathan Ellis, they only obtained the receipts after filing a lawsuit to obtain the public records. They were also threatened with a restraining order to claw back the files after they were released.</p><p data-block-key=\"132fk\">Sneve said that Noem’s cease and desist letter is a blatant attempt to chill their reporting, and that he wouldn’t stand idle when individuals attempt to “saber rattle” in order to “intimidate good, honest reporters who are just trying to provide a service that shouldn’t even be hard to provide.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f791j\">The newsroom, he added, remains undaunted. “I would highly doubt they even file a lawsuit,” Sneve said. “And if they did, I’m not losing any sleep over that.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2025-01-21T090238Z_1716622824_RC2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7bspe\">Attendees applaud during President Donald Trump’s inauguration at the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "White House wrests control of presidential press pool from correspondents",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-wrests-control-of-presidential-press-pool-from-correspondents/",
"first_published_at": "2025-02-25T21:32:07.254909Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-26T18:22:41.554325Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-26T18:22:41.457864Z",
"date": "2025-02-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mltlx\">In a break with more than a century of practice, the White House Correspondents’ Association will no longer control the press pool covering the president, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced during a news briefing on Feb. 25, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"e9gs7\">The pool — a 13-member group of reporters and photojournalists who travel with and cover the president’s daily activities — has <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/business/media/trump-white-house-press.html\">traditionally</a> been overseen by the WHCA to ensure that access isn’t limited to those covering the sitting administration favorably.</p><p data-block-key=\"6mgn6\">Leavitt’s announcement came amid a legal fight between The Associated Press and the White House over <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-reporters-barred-from-white-house-events-over-editorial-style-policy/\">the news agency’s exclusion</a> since Feb. 11 from events on Air Force One, in the Oval Office and other pool-only areas in retaliation for its editorial policy on referring to the Gulf of Mexico.</p><p data-block-key=\"fl8jd\">Reporters and photojournalists for the AP have historically been included in the White House pool rotation, and the WHCA filed a <a href=\"https://whca.press/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/WHCA-Amicus-Brief-AP-Case.pdf\">brief</a> in support of the AP’s case Feb. 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"90g0q\">Leavitt <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl-_9pOiAl0\">announced during the Feb. 25 briefing</a> that her team will take over assigning the pool, stating that “For decades a group of DC-based journalists — the White House Correspondents Association — has dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the President of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore.</p><p data-block-key=\"fi6cq\">“We want more outlets and new outlets to have a chance to take part in the ‘press pool’ to cover this administration’s unprecedented achievements up close, front and center,” Leavitt continued, noting that asking the president questions is a privilege and “awesome responsibility.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A group of DC-based journalists, the White House Correspondents' Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the President of the United States.<br><br>Not anymore.<br><br>Today, I was proud to announce that we are giving the power back to the people.<br><br>Moving… <a href=\"https://t.co/PkNui6Qleu\">pic.twitter.com/PkNui6Qleu</a></p>— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1894470524857614825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 25, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mltlx\">She emphasized that the rotations of broadcast, print and radio journalists would continue, but would include streaming services, local radio hosts and print outlets that are “committed” to covering the White House.</p><p data-block-key=\"3nlo7\">The WHCA warned against the press freedom implications of the move and pushed back against Leavitt’s justification for the change in a <a href=\"https://x.com/stevethomma/status/1894472674765635622\">statement</a> on the social platform X.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ob3\">“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president,” WHCA President Eugene Daniels said. “In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ft0lm\">The organization also noted that it has worked to keep pace with the evolving media environment while ensuring “consistent professional standards and fairness in access.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5ccr8\">The decision was criticized by <a href=\"https://x.com/tamarakeithNPR/status/1894480196310634722\">multiple</a> <a href=\"https://x.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/1894476539825459580\">White</a> <a href=\"https://x.com/AndrewFeinberg/status/1894473214480253082\">House</a> <a href=\"https://x.com/KellyO\">correspondents</a>. Peter Baker, chief White House reporter for The New York Times, <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/peterbakernyt.bsky.social/post/3lizk4tmcjk2d\">wrote</a>, “Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin’s reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5qg1a\">Late that evening, reporters from HuffPost and Reuters were removed from the Feb. 26 press pool list, HuffPost <a href=\"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-house-kicks-out-huffpost-reporter-from-press-pool_n_67be9224e4b0d509934aa224?ncid=APPLENEWS00001\">reported</a>. A reporter from Axios replaced the HuffPost reporter as the print pool representative, and the spots typically reserved for Reuters and the AP were allotted to Newsmax and Blaze Media, two conservative news outlets.</p><p data-block-key=\"1j6o9\">Reuters, the AP and Bloomberg News issued a <a href=\"https://x.com/ReutersPR/status/1894780094654124294\">joint statemen</a>t against the move as the “three permanent wires in the White House pool.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6aetd\">“Much of the White House coverage people see in their local news outlets, wherever they are in the world, comes from the wires,” the outlets’ editors said. “It is essential in a democracy for the public to have access to news about their government from an independent, free press. We believe that any steps by the government to limit the number of wire services with access to the President threatens that principle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b3rrg\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include details about the White House changing the roster for the pool of journalists set to follow the president on Feb. 26, 2025, as well as a statement from the three wire services historically in the pool.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2025-02-25T191520Z_2057213126_RC2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3qhm4\">White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions during a news briefing in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25, 2025. Leavitt announced that the administration — not the White House Correspondents’ Association — will organize press pool rotations.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"White House Correspondents' Association"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: White House"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": [
"Change in policy or practice"
]
},
{
"title": "Chicago reporter ‘booted’ from community meeting by city councilman’s staff",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-reporter-booted-from-community-meeting-by-city-councilmans-staff/",
"first_published_at": "2025-03-04T21:39:52.950650Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-04T21:39:52.950650Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-04T21:14:56.027702Z",
"date": "2025-02-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ieju3\">Reporter Francia Garcia Hernandez said she was told by a local official’s chief of staff to leave a community meeting in Chicago, Illinois, on Feb. 20, 2025, although two other reporters remained. The staffer disputed the account.</p><p data-block-key=\"fdqn\">The community meeting was held at a public school in the Pilsen neighborhood to discuss the controversial reopening of a local bar that had been temporarily closed by police after a fatal shooting outside, Garcia <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/02/21/city-allows-pilsen-bar-to-reopen-after-deadly-shootout-outside-frustrating-neighbors/\">reported</a> for Block Club Chicago.</p><p data-block-key=\"ajov8\">Pilsen residents had <a href=\"https://www.change.org/p/shut-down-caminos-de-michoacan-bar-for-community-safety\">called</a> for the bar to be permanently closed after the shooting, citing “increasing violence” associated with the business.</p><p data-block-key=\"8pl8v\">Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez, who represents the ward that includes Pilsen, had advertised the meeting as public, and a flyer about it had been widely distributed by residents on social media, Garcia noted in a subsequent <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/02/25/aldermans-office-kicks-reporter-out-of-meeting-on-controversial-bar-reopening/\">report</a> about the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"68cso\">“Neighbors shared the public meeting notice and invited me to come to the Thursday meeting,” Garcia reported, “saying they wanted to ensure their concerns about the bar would be heard and other neighbors who couldn’t attend would be able to learn what happened.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b936o\">Garcia wrote that she was greeted by Sigcho Lopez after she arrived. But 20 minutes into the meeting, once the attendees had begun to express concerns about the bar reopening, Garcia was told to leave by Sigcho Lopez’s chief of staff, Lucia Calderon (referred to as Lucia Moya in Garcia’s report).</p><p data-block-key=\"fgfjn\">Calderon said that the ward office hadn’t secured permission from Chicago Public Schools for reporters to attend and that the meeting was only for neighbors within a four-block radius of the bar.</p><p data-block-key=\"i4be\">“I asserted my First Amendment rights to report, but left because of the police presence in the room, and because I didn’t want to interrupt neighbors’ testimonies,” Garcia wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"coakj\">Garcia added that reporters from Telemundo and Univision remained in the room, though their camera operators were asked to stay outside.</p><p data-block-key=\"o1cg\">Calderon told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she had previously informed those reporters the event was closed to media and asserted she hadn’t known they were there. “If there were other members of the media in the room, they did not identify themselves and they did not violate the rules on photography and videography,” she added.</p><p data-block-key=\"ch0gv\">After the incident, Sigcho Lopez, who later referred to coverage as “irresponsible,” also said that the meeting was private, with no media allowed per Chicago Public Schools policy, reported Garcia. He did not specify which policy he was referring to.</p><p data-block-key=\"62u0b\">Garcia told the Tracker that she has previously attended and reported on several community meetings at public schools in the ward. Garcia also wrote that Calderon subsequently acknowledged “the language around the notification” — which called the meeting “public” — gave the impression the meeting was open to everyone.</p><p data-block-key=\"cs7mc\">Calderon, who later posted a lengthy Instagram <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DGg8Rkyv6EW/?igsh=azVueHhnbGIxNmJr\">response</a> to Garcia’s article about the incident, told the Tracker that “we did not clear media attendance at this event on public school property,” and that Garcia had “alarmed” attendees by taking photos with flash at the meeting, when Calderon said none was allowed.</p><p data-block-key=\"61s4k\">Calderon said she approached Garcia to say the meeting was closed and added, “Following a brief conversation, Francia offered to leave and Calderon accepted that. At no time was Francia asked to leave or ‘removed from the event’ by any person, official, or worker.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cj2o8\">Garcia said that she had not encountered previous access issues with Sigcho Lopez’s office. She said that her outlet had covered previous violent incidents around the bar and neighbors’ response to them, but could not confirm if her expulsion was linked to that coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"aul06\">“As a neighborhood beat reporter, participating in a meeting about a public issue is critical to understanding neighbors’ perspectives,” Garcia said. “This was the first time the bar owner held a dialogue with neighbors and addressed them, but excluding me from the conversation barred me from observing this conversation and its outcomes.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP21202717502908_1.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7307n\">Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez of Chicago, Illinois, in 2021. Reporter Francia Garcia Hernandez said she was told by Sigcho Lopez’s chief of staff to leave a community meeting on Feb. 21, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Local government: Legislature"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Francia Garcia Hernandez (Block Club Chicago)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": [
"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "Mississippi newspaper ordered to remove editorial critical of city officials",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/mississippi-newspaper-ordered-to-remove-op-ed-critical-of-city-officials/",
"first_published_at": "2025-02-19T19:10:22.457708Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-27T22:06:45.037051Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-27T22:06:44.917504Z",
"date": "2025-02-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Jackson",
"longitude": -90.18481,
"latitude": 32.29876,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7035h\">The Clarksdale Press Register was ordered to remove an editorial from its website and other online portals on Feb. 18, 2025, after the City of Clarksdale, Mississippi, alleged the article was defamatory.</p><p data-block-key=\"32vko\">The editorial, headlined “Secrecy, deception erode public trust” — <a href=\"https://www.pressregister.com/editorial-secrecy-deception-erode-public-trust\">pulled from the site</a> but <a href=\"https://archive.ph/PqZdk\">archived here</a> — was published on Feb. 8, and detailed how the mayor’s office had failed to properly notify the public of a special meeting held four days prior.</p><p data-block-key=\"4m612\">“Mayor Chuck Espy has always touted how ‘open’ and ‘transparent’ he is and he is ‘not like previous administrations of the past 30 years,’” the editorial said. While notice of the meeting was posted on the door of City Hall, it continued, “This newspaper was never notified. We know of no other media organization that was notified.”</p><p data-block-key=\"371rv\">In an <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/adamsteinbaugh.bsky.social/post/3lik2e6qatk2n\">affidavit</a>, the city clerk admitted that she had not emailed the media a notice announcing the meeting, as <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-25/chapter-41/section-25-41-13/\">required by state law</a>. Floyd Ingram, publisher and editor of the Press Register, approached her after the meeting to ask about its subject, and she said that she gave him a copy of the notice, an agenda, a resolution passed during the meeting and other materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"4o7k6\">Chancery Court Judge Crystal Wise Martin granted the city’s motion for a temporary restraining order without allowing the newspaper to argue against it, ruling that the Press Register must unpublish the article.</p><p data-block-key=\"bpe9j\">“The injury in this case is defamation against public figures through actual malice in reckless disregard of the truth,” Wise Martin <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=614309898244735&set=pcb.614311151577943\">wrote in her order</a>, “and interferes with their legitimate function to advocate for legislation they believe would help their municipality during this current legislative cycle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6qui0\">The city praised the ruling in a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/cityofclarksdale/posts/pfbid02FG8CQQJ13vKgQFE1iHk8afcKxtA5MpkzX9JrBAEwGWqjoFP8Mta2pKnN6WmsKPqSl\">post</a> to its official Facebook page.</p><p data-block-key=\"f12v0\">“The judge ruled in our favor that a newspaper cannot tell a malicious lie and not be held liable,” Mayor Espy said. “The only thing that I ask, that no matter what you print, just let it be the truth; be it good or bad.”</p><p data-block-key=\"evcju\">City Attorney Melvin Miller II added: “The City touts this as a victory for truth. Not even newspapers can imply lies against City officials conducting city business and get away with it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"96g0t\">First Amendment advocates, however, criticized the decision. Seth Stern, director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement that an order compelling a newspaper to take down an editorial critical of the government was blatantly unconstitutional.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qq9l\">“The underlying lawsuit here appears frivolous for any number of reasons,” Stern said. “But even in constitutionally permissible defamation lawsuits, it’s been well-established law for decades that the remedy for plaintiffs is monetary damages, not censorship orders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dk72e\">Adam Steinbaugh, a First Amendment lawyer at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, also <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/adamsteinbaugh.bsky.social/post/3lik2rm5ubs2n\">noted</a> that the Supreme Court ruled in New York Times v. Sullivan that governments can’t sue for libel.</p><p data-block-key=\"eioo5\">The editorial was removed from the Press Register website on the morning of Feb. 19. The newspaper did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"d89t2\">A full hearing on granting a permanent injunction is scheduled for Feb. 27.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Press_Register_prior_restraint.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yleih\">A portion of the Feb. 18, 2025, order placing a prior restraint on The Clarksdale Press Register and requiring the newspaper to remove an editorial about the City of Clarksdale, Mississippi, from its online portals.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": "dropped",
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Mississippi",
"abbreviation": "MS"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-02-26 17:05:00+00:00) Mississippi court lifts order requiring newspaper to unpublish editorial"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"The Clarksdale Press Register"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "AP reporters barred from White House events over editorial style policy",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-reporters-barred-from-white-house-events-over-editorial-style-policy/",
"first_published_at": "2025-02-12T21:12:06.702804Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-21T22:14:51.446228Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-21T22:14:51.256482Z",
"date": "2025-02-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9jjvk\">Two reporters for The Associated Press were prevented from attending events at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, 2025, in retaliation for the wire service’s editorial policy to continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico despite its renaming by the administration, AP <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-ap-journalism-first-amendment-8a83d8b506053249598e807f8e91e1ae\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"693ha\">Julie Pace, AP’s senior vice president and executive editor, said in a <a href=\"https://www.ap.org/the-definitive-source/announcements/ap-statement-on-oval-office-access/\">statement</a> that the denials happened after the newsroom received a warning, later said to have come from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.</p><p data-block-key=\"a7vqq\">“Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office,” Pace wrote. “This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3du8p\">While an AP photographer was allowed into the Oval Office for the event, AP reported that a second reporter was also barred from a separate event in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room later that evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"enq2p\">Pace condemned the denials in a <a href=\"https://x.com/katie_robertson/status/1889739177169670148/photo/1\">letter</a> to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Feb. 12.</p><p data-block-key=\"6jq27\">“The actions taken by the White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech,” Pace wrote. “It is among the most basic tenets of the First Amendment that the government cannot retaliate against the public or the press for what they say. This is viewpoint discrimination based on a news organization’s editorial choices and a clear violation of the First Amendment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"36nch\">AP’s <a href=\"https://www.ap.org/the-definitive-source/announcements/ap-style-guidance-on-gulf-of-mexico-mount-mckinley/\">style guidance</a> on the name change, issued Jan. 23, advises that the Gulf of Mexico has held that name for more than 400 years and the news service must ensure that place names are recognizable to a global audience. “The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen,” the guidance reads.</p><p data-block-key=\"708f\">The AP Stylebook is used not only by the news agency and its reporters in over 200 locations worldwide but by journalists and other writers nationally and globally. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was not able to confirm whether journalists from any other news outlets who also follow AP’s guidance were similarly barred.</p><p data-block-key=\"43eb9\">CNN reporter Brian Stelter <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/brianstelter.bsky.social/post/3lhz2mtd2oc2r\">reported</a> that an AP reporter assigned to the media pool was again blocked from entering the Oval Office for Tulsi Gabbard’s swearing-in as director of national intelligence on Feb. 12.</p><p data-block-key=\"5r7ao\">Leavitt defended the decision to exclude the wire service when questioned about it during a news briefing that afternoon, <a href=\"https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5141155-karoline-leavitt-ap-oval-office-gulf-of-america/\">according to The Hill</a>, adding that it is a “privilege to cover the White House.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4e80j\">“If we feel there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable,” Leavitt said. “And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America, and I’m not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that but that is what it is.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3mhqa\">The AP did not respond to a request for further comment. In her letter to Wiles, Pace wrote that it is unclear whether AP reporters will continue to be excluded from future White House events and she urged the administration not to do so.</p><p data-block-key=\"g2ue\">“When journalists are blocked from doing their job, it is the American public who suffers,” Pace wrote. “The AP is prepared to vigorously defend its constitutional rights and protest the infringement on the public’s right to independent news coverage of their government and elected officials.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6qgc0\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include details about a third White House event that AP reporters were prevented from attending, as well as comments from Karoline Leavitt during a news briefing on Feb. 12, 2025.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25042751897564.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"93ah8\">Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, both at right, spoke to reporters in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 11, 2025. An Associated Press reporter was excluded in retaliation for the wire service’s policy on the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:25-cv-00532",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-02-14 17:26:00+00:00) AP journalists indefinitely barred from Oval Office, Air Force One",
"(2025-02-21 17:05:00+00:00) The Associated Press sues Trump officials over access ban"
],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"The Associated Press"
],
"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: White House"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": [
"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "More than 75 Lee Enterprises newspapers affected by cyberattack",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/more-than-75-lee-enterprises-newspapers-affected-by-cyberattack/",
"first_published_at": "2025-02-12T17:19:23.205195Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-04T21:44:50.694408Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-04T21:44:50.589276Z",
"date": "2025-02-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Davenport",
"longitude": -90.57764,
"latitude": 41.52364,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oif3d\">Dozens of newspapers owned by Iowa-based news media company Lee Enterprises were affected by a cyberattack starting on Feb. 3, 2025, disrupting the publication of print and e-editions.</p><p data-block-key=\"9smah\">The St. Louis Post-Dispatch — one of Lee Enterprises’ more than 400 daily, weekly and specialty newspapers across 24 states — <a href=\"https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-post-dispatch-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_a76e69be-e5ae-11ef-b904-474af5328760.html\">reported</a> that the media conglomerate had experienced a “cybersecurity event.” The company alerted its newspapers that it had been working with third-party specialists to investigate the disruption and restore the systems.</p><p data-block-key=\"e5rdr\">“We are now focused on determining what information — if any — may have been affected by the situation,” Lee Enterprises CEO Kevin Mowbray wrote. “We are working to complete this investigation as quickly and thoroughly as possible, but these types of investigations are complex and time-consuming, with many taking several weeks or longer to complete.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fd7ln\">According to the Post-Dispatch, the targeting of the company’s computers prevented many newspapers from building pages and publishing print editions. The Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina <a href=\"https://journalnow.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-winston-salem-journal-lee-enterprises-greensboro-attack/article_7c5ab88a-e5c3-11ef-8583-6ff0c409859f.html\">reported</a> that some subscribers could not access their accounts.</p><p data-block-key=\"66u3p\">At least 79 newspapers reported disruptions to their operations. Many published delayed or smaller editions while others were unable to publish entirely.</p><p data-block-key=\"acvij\">The Sentinel in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, <a href=\"https://cumberlink.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-lee-enterprises/article_8d167d2f-477f-5940-ac90-741e85aafe69.html\">reported</a> that the cyberattack affected phone lines and internet at its office, forcing staff to work remotely. Carrier Sidener, executive editor of The News & Advance in Lynchburg, Virginia, <a href=\"https://newsadvance.com/news/local/cyber-attack-newspaper-lynchburg/article_5fab1816-e658-11ef-8e89-a71266caf132.html\">wrote</a> on Feb. 9 that the attack also disabled her newsroom’s phone system.</p><p data-block-key=\"eg47b\">As of Feb. 12, Lee newspapers continued to have banners on their websites that read: “We are currently undergoing maintenance on some services, which may temporarily affect access to subscription accounts and the e-edition. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve the issues.”</p><p data-block-key=\"79u90\">According to the Winston-Salem Journal, CEO Mowbray told the newspapers that the company is working to find ways to prevent something similar from happening again but did not say when the issues would be resolved.</p><p data-block-key=\"blvpa\">Mowbray also thanked employees “for your above-and-beyond efforts to continue reporting the news and maintaining our operations under challenging circumstances.”</p><p data-block-key=\"94oq3\">The full list of outlets confirmed to have been affected, listed alphabetically by state:</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"2iabl\"><b>Arizona</b> — <a href=\"https://tucson.com/news/local/arizona-daily-star-lee-enterprises-system-production-problems-cyberattack/article_8d580b3c-e5ba-11ef-a1fe-3f41c68580b0.html\">The Arizona Daily Star</a></li><li data-block-key=\"4juul\"><b>Illinois</b> — <a href=\"https://herald-review.com/news/local/herald-review-parent-company-victim-of-cybersecurity-event/article_23b01a68-e5d7-11ef-b3a0-975ffcf122e6.html\">Herald & Review</a>, <a href=\"https://jg-tc.com/news/local/jg-tc-parent-company-victim-of-cybersecurity-event/article_bddbbcc2-e5d8-11ef-898e-67db9e7672aa.html\">Journal Gazette & Times-Courier</a>, <a href=\"https://pantagraph.com/news/local/pantagraph-parent-company-victim-of-cybersecurity-event/article_282847e8-1dd0-5163-a40e-4b3e1f52ce89.html\">The Pantagraph</a>, <a href=\"https://pantagraph.com/community/wcj/news/lee-falls-victim-to-cyber-attack/article_e80f5244-e725-11ef-8f6d-b31482ce2e8b.html\">Woodford County Journal</a></li><li data-block-key=\"2b2jn\"><b>Iowa</b> — <a href=\"https://dbrnews.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-hits-denison-bulletin-review-other-lee-news-outlets-causing-disruptions/article_5431284a-e801-11ef-bb5d-9f05001b2a10.html\">Bulletin-Review</a>, <a href=\"https://nonpareilonline.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-lee-enterprises-nonpareil-council-bluffs/article_19436a9e-e5cd-11ef-b2e2-abb41b527aa2.html\">The Daily Nonpareil</a>, <a href=\"https://qconline.com/news/local/business/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-quad-city-times-other-lee-enterprises-papers/article_0ada1d46-42bd-5ce8-ba8c-405b0a7824b3.html\">The Dispatch & The Rock Island Argus</a>, <a href=\"https://globegazette.com/news/local/lee-enterprises-cybersecurity-event/article_23f58a0c-d595-57f7-ad90-cfd8fcd3b5ce.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_globegazette\">Globe Gazette</a>, <a href=\"https://qctimes.com/news/local/business/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-quad-city-times-other-lee-enterprises-papers/article_b480c86a-3c50-5abe-affb-7ebe7390ba2f.html\">Quad-City Times</a>, <a href=\"https://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/sioux-city-journal-lee-enterprises-cybersecurity/article_7dc1957e-e666-11ef-aaee-cf5b4fd7fdcc.html\">Sioux City Journal</a>, <a href=\"https://valleynewstoday.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-hits-southwest-iowa-herald-other-lee-news-outlets-causing-disruptions/article_bb702629-31d5-5849-8f02-5dfab3bc484b.html\">Southwest Iowa Herald</a>, <a href=\"https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/lee-enterprises-cybersecurity-event/article_c068345b-776a-5e6f-98d5-d7fa3ce43a4d.html?mode=nowapp\">The Courier</a></li><li data-block-key=\"83jpr\"><b>Minnesota</b> — <a href=\"https://winonadailynews.com/news/local/business/cybersecurity-event-shuts-down-systems-at-newspaper/article_ccec1b44-e5b5-11ef-9643-e7c1626c853f.html\">Winona Daily News</a></li><li data-block-key=\"d3eiu\"><b>Missouri</b> — <a href=\"https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-post-dispatch-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_a76e69be-e5ae-11ef-b904-474af5328760.html\">The St. Louis Post-Dispatch</a></li><li data-block-key=\"e26bq\"><b>Montana</b> — <a href=\"https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/article_6e19fb12-e5bb-11ef-9bf6-7fcff18cc3db.html\">Billings Gazette</a>, <a href=\"https://helenair.com/news/local/cybersecutiry-lee-enterprises/article_4ed0ec1c-e5ba-11ef-91ea-536d0632a696.html\">Independent Record</a>, <a href=\"https://missoulian.com/news/local/cybersecurity-lee-enterprises/article_1329b714-e5bc-11ef-9de0-237f71ce065f.html\">Missoulian</a>, <a href=\"https://mtstandard.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-montana-standard-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_6e55e3d8-e5bc-11ef-ba7c-87d1796a0366.html\">Montana Standard</a>, <a href=\"https://ravallirepublic.com/news/local/lee-enterprises-cybersecurity/article_208f4aee-e5bd-11ef-9ef0-7f1bb60fd053.html\">Ravalli Republic</a></li><li data-block-key=\"43rbm\"><b>Nebraska</b> — <a href=\"https://columbustelegram.com/news/community/banner-press/printed-newspaper-delayed-read-the-latest-stories-from-the-david-city-banner-press/article_aa39050e-e4ab-11ef-b657-6b486ecbb4a9.html\">The Banner-Press</a>, <a href=\"https://beatricedailysun.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-daily-sun-and-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_9c880719-4a30-5831-b361-9f65dbc8218c.html\">Beatrice Daily Sun</a>, <a href=\"https://columbustelegram.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-lee-enterprises-columbus-telegram/article_946a32c8-e5cf-11ef-9f48-e73b5ea991a3.html\">The Columbus Telegram</a>, <a href=\"https://fremonttribune.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-lee-enterprises-fremont-tribune/article_fd6c24e4-e5ce-11ef-9972-1b5f9a0c32b7.html\">Fremont Tribune</a>, <a href=\"https://theindependent.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-hits-lee-news-outlets-causing-disruptions/article_9c7ba96a-e58d-5b4f-bf99-b765ca36df2c.html\">The Grand Island Independent</a>, <a href=\"https://lexch.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-clipper-herald-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_5f8c8e72-e5cd-11ef-9b00-ff3000eff3e9.html\">Lexington Clipper-Herald</a>, <a href=\"https://journalstar.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-impacting-journal-star/article_3bd60ffa-e5b7-11ef-a655-3bbb587661e4.html\">Lincoln Journal Star</a>, <a href=\"https://nptelegraph.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-the-north-platte-telegraph-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_9fb98468-f51b-55ef-abd6-5fb1a8e48b1b.html\">The North Platte Telegraph</a>, <a href=\"https://omaha.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-hits-the-world-herald-other-lee-news-outlets-causing-disruptions/article_dfb5b6e2-e5b8-11ef-9d33-937080c09b6f.html\">Omaha World-Herald</a>, <a href=\"https://columbustelegram.com/news/community/schuyler/cybersecurity-event-hits-schuyler-sun-other-lee-news-outlets-causing-disruptions/article_dae487e0-e81c-11ef-8c2a-cbc493448b18.html\">Schuyler Sun</a>, <a href=\"https://starherald.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-star-herald-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_a96f1ab1-12c2-51be-8767-9d5172a685fd.html\">Star-Herald</a></li><li data-block-key=\"ejco2\"><b>Nevada</b> — <a href=\"https://elkodaily.com/news/local/crime-courts/publisher-of-elko-daily-free-press-struck-by-cybersecurity-event/article_bf19777e-e5f5-11ef-b2e8-2f1ee2d48766.html\">Elko Daily Free Press</a></li><li data-block-key=\"9mvhl\"><b>New Jersey</b> — <a href=\"https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/business/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-the-press-of-atlantic-city-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_ea76ea3a-4e33-530c-bc7a-e7601fdde2a8.html\">The Press of Atlantic City</a></li><li data-block-key=\"avvo2\"><b>New York</b> — <a href=\"https://buffalonews.com/news/local/buffalo-new-cybersecurity-event-lee-enterprises/article_6dc5e704-e5b4-11ef-b07f-db0b5c918647.html\">The Buffalo News</a>, <a href=\"https://auburnpub.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-the-citizen-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_84a16e08-f1ff-53d9-825b-0e198649eeaa.html\">The Citizen</a>, <a href=\"https://poststar.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-the-post-star-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_abe7c072-4cd3-5756-a381-a513601ebdae.html\">The Post-Star</a></li><li data-block-key=\"f4i0o\"><b>North Carolina</b> — <a href=\"https://hickoryrecord.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-lee-enterprises-hickory-morganton-statesville-attack/article_2cdfaab4-e5db-11ef-8a1c-3be8667b462d.html\">Hickory Daily Record</a>, <a href=\"https://mcdowellnews.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-lee-enterprises-hickory-morganton-statesville-attack/article_9e228ac4-e5dc-11ef-9498-0b90c9463753.html\">The McDowell News</a>, <a href=\"https://greensboro.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-winston-salem-journal-lee-enterprises-greensboro-attack/article_e5e38e56-e5d9-11ef-b300-e77c69bf7b17.html\">News & Record</a>, <a href=\"https://morganton.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-lee-enterprises-hickory-morganton-statesville-attack/article_980c1708-e5dd-11ef-985f-afd14b166501.html\">The News Herald</a>, <a href=\"https://statesville.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-lee-enterprises-hickory-morganton-statesville-attack/article_209350d8-e5dd-11ef-905e-3b6beaa10a84.html\">Statesville Record and Landmark</a>, <a href=\"https://journalnow.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-winston-salem-journal-lee-enterprises-greensboro-attack/article_7c5ab88a-e5c3-11ef-8583-6ff0c409859f.html\">Winston-Salem Journal</a></li><li data-block-key=\"hug0\"><b>North Dakota</b> — <a href=\"https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-regional/business/the-bismarck-tribune-lee-enterprises-cybersecurity-event-attack/article_3d31cffc-86b1-59d5-8f67-ff45aa5f2853.html\">The Bismarck Tribune</a>, <a href=\"https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-regional/business/the-bismarck-tribune-lee-enterprises-cybersecurity-event-attack/article_3d31cffc-86b1-59d5-8f67-ff45aa5f2853.html\">The Morton County and Mandan News</a></li><li data-block-key=\"1fhd8\"><b>Oklahoma</b> — <a href=\"https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-tulsa-world-other-lee-enterprises-sites/article_436bbb16-e5bc-11ef-9238-17e82078267a.html\">Tulsa World</a></li><li data-block-key=\"6huof\"><b>Pennsylvania</b> — <a href=\"https://cumberlink.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-lee-enterprises/article_8d167d2f-477f-5940-ac90-741e85aafe69.html\">The Sentinel</a></li><li data-block-key=\"fq1rv\"><b>Oregon</b> — <a href=\"https://democratherald.com/news/local/business/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-dh-gt/article_22c0e127-795c-5707-abd8-d59c5d7e6d2e.html\">Albany Democrat-Herald</a>, <a href=\"https://gazettetimes.com/news/local/business/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-dh-gt/article_95d21b40-916b-5972-9acd-24dbe4d3913f.html\">Corvallis Gazette-Times</a></li><li data-block-key=\"e9tdm\"><b>South Carolina</b> — <a href=\"https://scnow.com/news/local/business/florence-hartsville-marion-mullins/article_853293e1-c814-5965-b5d7-74e52b0e7034.html\">The Morning News</a>, <a href=\"https://thetandd.com/news/local/business/orangeburg-lee-enterprises/article_db694f31-9b11-534a-8134-f5a54aa97992.html\">The Times and Democrat</a></li><li data-block-key=\"1vudd\"><b>South Dakota</b> — <a href=\"https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/community/chadron/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-chadron-record-other-lee-enterprises-sites/article_0bb807e4-e7c2-11ef-bdbf-bb92a738def5.html\">The Chadron Record</a>, <a href=\"https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-courts/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-rapid-city-journal-other-lee-enterprises-sites/article_1ea78c1c-e5ba-11ef-bd3f-6f465548cb7f.html\">Rapid City Journal</a></li><li data-block-key=\"2lvg4\"><b>Texas</b> — <a href=\"https://theeagle.com/news/local/lee-enterprises-cybersecurity-incident-texas-newspapers-bcs-waco/article_bcb63e7c-e68b-11ef-8459-97229e01eed6.html\">The Eagle</a>, <a href=\"https://wacotrib.com/news/local/lee-enterprises-cybersecurity-incident-texas-newspapers-waco-bcs/article_411c5954-e5b9-11ef-8846-676a79f09146.html\">Waco Tribune-Herald</a></li><li data-block-key=\"eei83\"><b>Virginia</b> — <a href=\"https://newsadvance.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-the-news-advance-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_92617506-e5b9-11ef-ad05-fb9943692893.html\">Amherst New Era-Progress</a>, <a href=\"https://heraldcourier.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-herald-courier-other-lee-newspapers/article_da7b1f32-eb07-5c82-b24c-310fa8103c3b.html\">Bristol Herald Courier</a>, <a href=\"https://starexponent.com/news/local/richmond-times-dispatch-lee-enterprises-cybersecurity/article_5b925beb-c3a5-586d-a0ce-23032ef7f2d7.html\">Culpeper Star-Exponent</a>, <a href=\"https://newsvirginian.com/news/local/business/news-virginian-parent-company-victim-of-cybersecurity-event/article_0afb0ebf-116f-5895-aea6-2b7df249b5f3.html\">The Daily Progress</a>, <a href=\"https://godanriver.com/news/state-and-regional/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-register-bee-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_d77f0f1a-e5c1-11ef-a98f-3fdad49454f2.html\">Danville Register & Bee</a>, <a href=\"https://fredericksburg.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-free-lance-star-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_86af767c-e659-11ef-a552-cff28de1d43f.html\">The Free Lance-Star</a>, <a href=\"https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/business/daily-progress-parent-company-victim-of-cybersecurity-event/article_ed3270d4-e5b9-11ef-aebb-1f36f175e8e4.html\">Madison County Eagle</a>, <a href=\"https://martinsvillebulletin.com/news/local/business/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-martinsville-bulletin-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_a3c1360d-119d-50d4-be2e-e296930981c9.html\">Martinsville Bulletin</a>, <a href=\"https://newsadvance.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-the-news-advance-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_92617506-e5b9-11ef-ad05-fb9943692893.html\">Nelson County Times</a>, <a href=\"https://newsadvance.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-disrupts-operations-at-the-news-advance-other-lee-enterprises-newspapers/article_92617506-e5b9-11ef-ad05-fb9943692893.html\">The News & Advance</a>, <a href=\"https://newsvirginian.com/no-print-newspaper-saturday-read-the-latest-from-the-news-virginian/article_e5a96b44-e5d0-11ef-a504-03301748b674.html\">The News Virginian</a>, <a href=\"https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/business/daily-progress-parent-company-victim-of-cybersecurity-event/article_ed3270d4-e5b9-11ef-aebb-1f36f175e8e4.html\">Orange County Review</a>, <a href=\"https://richmond.com/news/local/business/richmond-times-dispatch-lee-enterprises-cybersecurity/article_4785c59c-e5b3-11ef-801d-738bf629668d.html\">Richmond Times-Dispatch</a>, <a href=\"https://roanoke.com/news/local/business/article_de0070a4-7065-5f47-bcec-da83e6d6b755.html\">The Roanoke Times</a>, <a href=\"https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/business/daily-progress-parent-company-victim-of-cybersecurity-event/article_ed3270d4-e5b9-11ef-aebb-1f36f175e8e4.html\">Rural Virginian</a></li><li data-block-key=\"826p0\"><b>Washington</b> — <a href=\"https://tdn.com/news/local/longview-wa-newspaper-late-delivery/article_ad3d0a94-e64e-11ef-9573-17360d591ea3.html\">The Daily News</a></li><li data-block-key=\"fhfi7\"><b>Wisconsin</b> — <a href=\"https://wiscnews.com/life-entertainment/local/art-theater/no-printed-newspapers-today-heres-the-latest-from-baraboo-portage-and-beaver-dam/article_f7d5a65c-e41d-11ef-ada8-4b2b73c003e7.html\">Baraboo News Republic</a>, <a href=\"https://chippewa.com/news/local/business/cybersecurity-event-shuts-down-systems-at-newspaper/article_68b2ed82-e5b6-11ef-a71d-8b85adb13f3f.html\">The Chippewa Herald</a>, <a href=\"https://wiscnews.com/life-entertainment/local/art-theater/no-printed-newspapers-today-heres-the-latest-from-baraboo-portage-and-beaver-dam/article_f7d5a65c-e41d-11ef-ada8-4b2b73c003e7.html\">Daily Citizen</a>, <a href=\"https://journaltimes.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-shuts-down-systems-jt/article_17f65110-e631-11ef-adb0-ef2f5f2ba146.html\">The Journal Times</a>, <a href=\"https://wiscnews.com/news/state-regional/lee-enterprises-cybersecurity-event/article_fafeef65-4e8b-555f-900a-641eea13d186.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_Juneau_County_Star-Times\">Juneau County Star-Times</a>, <a href=\"https://kenoshanews.com/news/local/cybersecurity-event-shuts-down-systems-kn/article_a309bb28-e633-11ef-9da3-db959264cbeb.html\">Kenosha News</a>, <a href=\"https://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/business/cybersecurity-event-shuts-down-systems-at-newspaper/article_06fc74d8-e5b5-11ef-a7f6-27a45e198ea6.html\">La Crosse Tribune</a>, <a href=\"https://madison.com/news/local/article_4fb619d8-e5b3-11ef-94d3-832c2e05abaf.html\">Wisconsin State Journal</a></li><li data-block-key=\"55c12\"><b>Wyoming</b> — <a href=\"https://trib.com/news/local/companywide-tech-outages-impact-star-tribune-print-newspaper-and-e-editions/article_e1b47d28-e439-11ef-8f09-2b46431e8c8a.html\">Casper Star-Tribune</a></li></ul><p data-block-key=\"4nq2a\"></p><p data-block-key=\"aasvm\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include the names of additional news outlets that were confirmed to have been affected by the cyberattack.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Lee_Enterprises_-_Post-Dispatch.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"61pek\">The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and 75 other Lee Enterprises newspapers were affected by a cyberattack on the Iowa-based news media company on Feb. 3, 2025. Banners on the news websites alerted readers of ongoing “maintenance on some services.”</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Iowa",
"abbreviation": "IA"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-02-18 17:17:00+00:00) Lee systems accessed, files withdrawn in cyberattack",
"(2025-02-27 16:44:00+00:00) Cybercrime group claims it’s behind Lee Enterprises attack"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Lee Enterprises"
],
"tags": [
"cyberattack"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
}
]
