All Incidents - U.S. Press Freedom Tracker

Astros fire assistant general manager for inappropriate comments to reporters

November 13, 2019

The Houston Astros fired Brandon Taubman, the baseball team's assistant general manager, on Oct. 24, 2019, after Taubman made improper …

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Journalists barred from asylum hearings held in tent courts at border

September 23, 2019

Members of the media were barred from observing asylum hearings held in two tent complexes in the Texas border cities …

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BBC journalist questioned by border official, passport reviewed

September 16, 2019

Stephanie Hegarty, a population correspondent for BBC News, was invasively questioned about her reporting and had her passport briefly taken …

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Owner and reporter for Texas weekly threatened, arrest warrant issued

October 8, 2019

Dina Garcia-Peña, owner of the El Tejano newspaper, received a threatening message from a man on Aug. 1, 2019, the …

Broadcast journalist threatened at gunpoint in Texas

June 10, 2019

KCEN-TV reporter Emani Payne wrote on Facebook that she was threatened at gunpoint while reporting outside an apartment complex in Killeen, Texas, on May 30, 2019. “Yesterday was the most frightening experience of my reporting career thus far,” wrote Payne in a Facebook post. “I went to a bad area of Killeen to an apartment complex to follow up on a story.”Payne wrote that since she was alone, she recognized that it was time to leave once she saw violent …

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Rolling Stone journalist stopped for secondary screening, has electronics searched while asked invasive questions about reporting

June 26, 2019

After arriving on a flight from Mexico City on May 13, 2019, Rolling Stone journalist Seth Harp was stopped for …

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Texas high school journalism adviser resigns; district implements prior review policies

May 1, 2019

The journalism adviser at a high school in Katy, Texas, has resigned after a prolonged conflict with school administration, which …

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Cameraman, other reporters attacked at Trump rally

February 22, 2019

A man wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat attacked a group of reporters, including BBC News cameraman Ron …

Category Results

Total Results	13
Journalists affected	10
Institutions affected	3

How we track Arrests And Criminal Charges

Journalists arrested and taken into custody and/or charged with a crime. Journalists who are still facing charges as of August 2, 2017 are included in this category even if the charges were filed in a previous year.

How we track Border Stops

Journalists stopped at the border and subjected to prolonged, invasive questioning or who have their electronic devices searched or are asked to provide passwords. We count border stops even if we are unable to draw a direct connection between the stop and the journalist’s work activities, because the resistance of U.S. authorities to provide information makes it extremely difficult to identify the motive and because invasive questioning or device searches could jeopardize source confidentiality no matter the motive. Not every stop at the border is a press freedom violation, but we believe it is essential to capture patterns related to these stops. This category also includes cases where journalists are prevented from entering the country if it appears that their inability to enter the country is related to their work.

How we track Subpoenas And Legal Orders

Subpoenas or legal orders requiring journalists to testify in court or produce journalistic records or work product. This category also includes orders targeted at third parties who have access to journalistic records or work product. Because many subpoenas are not publicly reported and legal orders for journalist records are conducted with high levels of secrecy, the numbers in this category are likely to underestimate actual cases.

How we track Leak Cases

Government employees or contractors investigated or prosecuted for disclosing information to journalists or media platforms. This category does not include leak cases where information was not leaked to the media.

How we track Equipment Searches And Seizures

Journalists’ equipment searched or seized by law enforcement in the course of their work.

How we track Physical Attacks

Journalists who face physical violence, either as the result of a targeted attack by a public or private individual or in the course of their work. If a journalist is hit by rubber bullets or bean bag rounds, it will be counted in this category.

Damage to equipment is counted in a separate "Equipment Damage" category, but may be also listed in this Physical Attack category if the damage occurs with an attack.

Journalists affected by tear gas, pepper spray, or other mass riot control agents will be counted if the individual suffers serious injury or appears to have been specifically targeted. Incidents that fall outside these parameters and in which multiple journalists were affected by riot control agents may be counted in the “Other” category.

How we track Denials Of Access

Denial of access to government events that are traditionally open or attended by the press and where the denial of access either deprives the public of significant information, appears to be retaliatory, or is done without meaningful justification. Concrete changes in policy or practice to restrict or deny access may also be included in this category.

Denial of access to individuals in some cases, such as where the available space limits the number of journalists allowed to attend or where individuals arguing for access do not meet reasonable standards for credentials, can be seen as meaningful justifications and will not be included.

How we track Chilling Statements

Selected public threats made to reporters and media organizations by U.S. politicians and other public figures, which can have a chilling effect on journalism.

FEATURED STORY

From ‘fake news’ to ‘enemy of the people’: An Anatomy of Trump’s tweets

From June 16, 2015, when Donald Trump declared his candidacy for president, to today, where he sits as leader of the free world, every tweet in which he mentions the media, individual journalists, news outlets, or journalistic sources in a negative tone is being tracked in a database.

Contributor Stephanie Sugars, who created that database with the Committee to Protect Journalists and manages its ongoing accounting, explored rhetoric from the first two years of Trump’s presidency in a blog post.

As the president continues to communicate through Twitter, this live database offers a continued tracking.

How we track Other Incidents

Incidents that fall outside of the other categories, but reach a threshold of interest as determined by editorial discretion. Incidents that may be counted in this category include threats, harassment, detentions that do not result in charges or arrest, clearly abusive lawsuits, and vandalism.

How we track Prior Restraints

News organizations or journalists who are ordered by a judge not to publish information under threat of punishment

How we track Equipment Damage

Damage to a journalist's equipment or property, either as the result of a targeted attack by a public or private individual or in the course of their work.