U.S. Press Freedom Tracker

Press Freedom in Crisis

While covering protests across the nation — spurred by the death of George Floyd, a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020 — an unprecedented number of journalists have been assaulted, arrested or otherwise prevented from documenting history. As the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker verifies more than 930 reported incidents across 79 cities, you’ll find them here.
REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

Tear gas is deployed into a Louisville, Kentucky, crowd on May 29, 2020.

— REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

VISUALIZING ATTACKS ON PRESS FREEDOM | Incidents are charted here by date as they are published. Explore our data using the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker API.

Data is still taking shape

We’re working to independently verify these continuing reports of attacks on press freedom.

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Due to the overwhelming number of aggressions against the press made public since protests began, we're making interim reported incidents available as we investigate them.

Reported incidents (open source)
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Documented reports by major category