U.S. Press Freedom Tracker

About

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a nonpartisan news website and database providing reliable and contextualized information on the number of press freedom violations in the United States — from journalists facing charges to reporters assaulted or stopped at the U.S. border and asked to hand over their electronics. As a centralized repository for research, the data we gather informs journalism, legal action and is the backbone of advocacy efforts for major press freedom groups.

The Tracker is a project of Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF).

Our goal is to gather and disseminate information about the state of press freedom in our democracy so that an accurate record is created and the public is informed. Constant vigilance and honest accounting of the country’s track record on press freedom is an essential part of our democracy.

The Tracker’s advisory board, made up of major press freedom groups, shares knowledge about threats to press freedom across the country. The Committee to Protect Journalists chairs the advisory board that also includes FPF, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Reporters Without Borders.

A larger group of more than three dozen partners also includes professional societies, news organizations and free expression advocates. This work would not be possible without their contributions.

The Tracker is an open source database with a downloadable API. All other original content is licensed under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution International License.

Updated September 2024

Editorial Staff

  • Kirstin McCudden
    Managing Editor
  • Stephanie Sugars
    Senior Reporter
  • Sophie Hagen
    Research Reporter

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker website is supported by the web team and other staff and contributors at Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Advisory Board

  • Arlene Getz (Chair)
    Editorial Director, Committee to Protect Journalists
  • Trevor Timm
    Executive Director, Freedom of the Press Foundation
  • Katie Fallow
    Senior Staff Attorney, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
  • Grayson Clary
    Staff Attorney, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
  • Clayton Weimers
    Executive Director, Reporters Without Borders USA

Partners