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{
"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": "",
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"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>",
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{
"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",
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"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": "",
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"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>",
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{
"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",
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"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": "",
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"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>",
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{
"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",
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"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>",
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"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": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"The Clarksdale Press Register"
],
"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
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{
"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,
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"detention_date": null,
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"case_number": "1:25-cv-00532",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"border_point": null,
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"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,
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"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,
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"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": []
},
{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist arrested at anti-deportation protest in Indiana",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-arrested-at-anti-deportation-protest-in-indiana/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-21T22:13:07.630584Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-29T16:52:52.069802Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-29T16:52:51.952246Z",
"date": "2025-01-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Gary",
"longitude": -87.34643,
"latitude": 41.59337,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sw9mj\">Freelance photojournalist Matthew Kaplan was arrested in Gary, Indiana, on Jan. 18, 2025, while reporting on a pre-inauguration protest against large-scale deportations planned by Donald Trump’s incoming administration.</p><p data-block-key=\"7sotd\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mkaplanphoto/p/DE_ozY8Oo4d/11825-gary-indiana-i-was-arrested-by-the-gary-police-today-while-documenting-a-p/?img_index=7\">post on social media</a>, Kaplan wrote that protesters had gathered at the Gary/Chicago International Airport to demonstrate against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Regular protests have been held there since 2017 to object to its long-standing use by ICE for deportation flights, The Times of Northwest Indiana <a href=\"https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-courts/arrests-deportation-protest-gary-airport/article_109df45c-d5da-11ef-87e9-bbc3934461d0.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ijv0\">The demonstrators marched toward the airport from a nearby train station while chanting and carrying signs, including “Abolish ICE” and “No Human is Illegal,” Kaplan wrote. After spending around 10 minutes protesting near the airport, they began the walk back to the train.</p><p data-block-key=\"23ktl\">“Soon some 10-15 police cars were tailing the group and ordered them to get off the active highway,” Kaplan wrote. “This order was eventually obeyed, but almost immediately after the marchers were on the grassy shoulder, police began to push people down and make arrests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"busb8\">Lisa Kiselevich, another freelance photojournalist covering the demonstration, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that both she and Kaplan were photographing as police carried one of the arrested protesters to a police vehicle. She said she remembered thinking Kaplan was standing in the better position.</p><p data-block-key=\"3sco4\">“I’m like, ‘Oh, he got the best spot there for his shots, because then he can see the person and the police car door open and everything. He’s in the perfect spot there,” Kiselevich said. “It turned out that the spot was not so lucky, because the (my) next shot shows the policeman grabbing him from the back.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b29ql\">Kiselevich said she didn’t hear the Gary Police Department officer issue a warning before arresting Kaplan, adding that while the scene was chaotic it was clear that both she and Kaplan were only photographing the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"aenal\">She said Kaplan gave her his two cameras, along with his tripod and camera bag, because he was concerned the officers might wipe his memory cards. The officer allowed the handoff but repeatedly threatened Kiselevich with arrest if she didn’t leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"8epfv\">“I said, ‘Well yeah, I’ll be out of here. Just let me grab his camera,’” Kiselevich said. “I did it and was walking, and then he walked behind me, the policeman, and he kept saying, ‘I will arrest you’ or ‘I’m going to arrest you’ or something like that. And not very loudly either.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9cvvh\">The Gary Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"c2l5v\">Kaplan wrote in his account that he was taken to the Gary Police Station and held for around two hours before he was released on charges of disorderly conduct, criminal trespass and resisting law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fum1\">“I don’t really like myself being the story, because there were two protesters who were arrested too,” Kaplan told the Tracker. “That’s what I thought I was covering. I thought I was just covering a march. I didn’t think I was going to be covering police action or my own arrest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"q659\">Kaplan declined to comment further, following legal advice, before his initial appearance hearing Jan. 22.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Kaplan_arrest.be9ed8b5.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2nbn4\">Freelance photojournalist Matthew Kaplan, at center left in green, was arrested while covering an anti-deportation protest in Gary, Indiana, on Jan. 18, 2025. He was charged with criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and resisting law enforcement.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Gary Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2025-01-18",
"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": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2024",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Matthew Kaplan (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Two journalists removed from briefing after interrupting Blinken",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-removed-from-briefing-after-interrupting-blinken/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-17T22:04:41.153225Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-17T22:04:41.153225Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-17T22:00:18.404608Z",
"date": "2025-01-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gxq5a\">Two credentialed journalists were removed from Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s final news briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 16, 2025, after they interrupted his remarks with questions and comments concerning the Biden administration’s role in the Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"95ijb\">In a PBS News <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUjxnGQsEI4\">livestream</a> of the briefing, Blinken is heard starting his remarks by thanking the press corps for the work that they’ve done and their professionalism.<br/><br/> “I have even greater respect, even greater appreciation for you asking the tough questions, for you holding us to account,” he said. “Being on the receiving end, sometimes that’s not always the most comfortable thing, not always the most enjoyable thing, but it is the most necessary thing in our democracy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4jegq\">As Blinken finished those comments, Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal can be heard calling out about the number of journalists in Gaza who were “on the receiving end of your bombs.” Blumenthal <a href=\"https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1879926469633487204\">continued</a> making statements and asking questions about the administration’s actions around the war, and Blinken responded only by saying that he would address questions after he had completed his remarks.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">MUST SEE: Journalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MaxBlumenthal</a> confronts Antony Blinken about Israel's genocide<br><br>“300 reporters in Gaza were on the receiving end of your bombs…”<br><br>“Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?…”<br><br>“Why did you allow the holocaust of our time to happen??…” <a href=\"https://t.co/wqpRDGEWCd\">pic.twitter.com/wqpRDGEWCd</a></p>— Decensored News (@decensorednews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/decensorednews/status/1879944242099101974?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 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=\"gxq5a\">Blumenthal was ultimately directed out of the briefing room by a department employee. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1880054714836070672\">post on the social platform X</a>, he wrote in part that he is “grateful to have finally gotten a conversation going on how America’s outgoing top diplomat repeatedly proclaimed his ethnoreligious and familial loyalty to a foreign apartheid state.”</p><p data-block-key=\"58rdg\">Approximately five minutes after Blumenthal was escorted out, independent journalist Sam Husseini also <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUjxnGQsEI4\">interrupted</a> Blinken. “Will you recognize the Geneva Conventions apply to the Palestinians?” Husseini asked.</p><p data-block-key=\"c2g70\">Blinken again responded that he would answer questions soon, and continued with the briefing.</p><p data-block-key=\"a6g8i\">After another five minutes passed, Husseini interrupted with another question, after which he could be heard having a back-and-forth with a department official and saying that he wanted Blinken to answer some questions. He added, “I’m a journalist. I’m not a potted plant.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bamk2\">Husseini also stated that State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told him that his questions would not be answered and so he was justified in interrupting the briefing.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ob7o\">In <a href=\"https://x.com/ryangrim/status/1879931954201870410\">footage</a> captured by Drop Site News reporter Ryan Grim, multiple security officers then approached Husseini, pulling him out of his chair and ultimately lifting him off the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"49ish\">“I was sitting here quietly and now I’m being manhandled by two or three people,” Husseini said. “You pontificate about a free press?”</p><p data-block-key=\"433ea\">Blinken again responded that he would answer questions after his remarks and asked that Husseini “respect the process.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8l35v\">As he was carried out of the room, Husseini called out, “Everybody from Amnesty International to the ICJ (International Court of Justice) is saying that Israel’s doing genocide and extermination, and you’re telling me to ‘respect the process’? Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague?”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NEW: We reconstructed <a href=\"https://twitter.com/samhusseini?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@samhusseini</a>'s viral confrontation with Antony Blinken by combining footage from multiple sources, including <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AmrHSayed?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@amrhsayed</a> & <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ryangrim?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ryangrim</a>. A must-see.<br><br>This was the culmination of months of State Dept stonewalling.<br><br>“Why aren't you in The Hague??” <a href=\"https://t.co/QRWQ1xz4Rv\">pic.twitter.com/QRWQ1xz4Rv</a></p>— Decensored News (@decensorednews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/decensorednews/status/1880230957070029141?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 17, 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=\"gxq5a\">Blinken began taking questions a few minutes after Husseini was removed from the briefing room, <a href=\"https://www.state.gov/office-of-the-spokesperson/releases/2025/01/secretary-antony-j-blinken-at-a-press-availability\">answering questions</a> that were overwhelmingly about the administration’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war and ceasefire negotiations for approximately 45 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"dd9nt\">Husseini was ultimately <a href=\"https://x.com/samhusseini/status/1879931817253617798\">handcuffed</a> but later released without charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"4hu4\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/samhusseini/status/1880259181925544426\">post on social media</a>, Husseini wrote, “As I said, Miller told me they will not take my questions. I went to other staffers and journalists to complain. No one offered any remedy. I am not a stenographer. I am not a potted plant. I am not going to be complicit in my own silencing and the silencing of so many who depend on people like me.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Husseini_other.bf641d81.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"txm2g\">Independent journalist Sam Husseini, at center in gray, was forcibly carried out of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s final news conference by State Department security on Jan. 16, 2025, after he interrupted Blinken’s remarks.</p>",
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war"
],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
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"Sam Husseini (Independent)",
"Max Blumenthal (The Grayzone)"
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},
{
"title": "Kansas House bans reporting from floor, mirroring move in Senate",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-house-bans-reporting-from-floor-mirroring-move-in-senate/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-16T22:21:17.264567Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-16T22:21:17.264567Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-16T22:17:26.031571Z",
"date": "2025-01-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Topeka",
"longitude": -95.67804,
"latitude": 39.04833,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"biywr\">Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins banned reporting from the chamber’s floor at the Statehouse in Topeka on Jan. 10, 2025, overturning longstanding practice in a move that journalists in the state said was retaliatory.</p><p data-block-key=\"2dgk\">Payton Lacey, director of communications for Hawkins, sent the revised rules to reporters three days before the legislative session was scheduled to begin Jan. 13. In a copy of the email shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Lacey directed members of the press to “review this document carefully as there have been significant changes made compared to past sessions’ rules.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eth2r\">During the 2024 session, journalists were generally advised to remain in the “press box” — a table with six chairs in a corner of the chamber — during the session, according to rules reviewed by the Tracker. Photographs were only to be taken from the back wall of the chamber or the press box.</p><p data-block-key=\"5l87l\">The new rules, however, eliminate press box access, instead directing members of the press to remain in a gallery above the back of the chamber. Photographs may still be taken from along the back and side walls, with filming allowed only from the back wall or the gallery above.</p><p data-block-key=\"9v2rf\">Hawkins, who did not respond to a request for comment, <a href=\"https://x.com/DanHawkinsKS/status/1879171220152983904\">posted a copy of the new rules</a> on the social platform X, adding, “As you can see, despite false reports, reporters are still allowed on the North, East, and South walls on the floor of the House.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fu998\">Sherman Smith, editor of the Kansas Reflector, told the Tracker that there has already been confusion with the new rules concerning whether journalists are allowed to take notes from the floor and if there are any limits on how long they can be in the chamber.</p><p data-block-key=\"ct6us\">“Payton Lacey kind of had shifting explanations as to whether we could stand there for long periods of time during a lengthy session,” Smith said, “or whether, as she suggested at one point, ‘Can’t you just take two photos and go back out?’”</p><p data-block-key=\"1b21g\">Lacey <a href=\"https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/13/kansas-house-speaker-bans-reporters-from-chamber-floor-doesnt-say-why/\">told the Reflector</a> that the rule change was based on “congestion” in the area previously allotted to the press. The new rule also mirrors changes made in the Senate, which <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-moved-from-kansas-senate-floor-to-public-gallery-for-new-legislative-session/\">barred journalists</a> from the chamber floor in 2022, citing space concerns. Multiple Republican-controlled state legislatures, including <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-removed-from-iowa-senate-floor-overturning-a-century-old-practice/\">Iowa</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/utah-senate-becomes-third-state-legislature-this-year-to-limit-journalists-access/\">Utah</a>, also limited press access to their chamber floors in 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"5a9k8\">Smith questioned the speaker’s rationale and said that there have been few occasions when the press box was overcrowded.</p><p data-block-key=\"90h8c\">“It’s not about this kind of shifting and incoherent rationale that they’ve given us since that story published,” he said. “It’s really about getting people that they don’t like off the floor because they don’t like what we report.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4rm92\">Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, told the Tracker that the change will have an immediate impact on journalists and the information they’re able to provide the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs35c\">“Reporting from the floor is important because there are a lot of conversations that don’t happen behind the mic,” Bradbury said. “Sometimes we are the only source of information between the people of Kansas and their representatives. And by giving reporters access and being able to overhear those conversations, we’re able to report on what’s happening in real time, which also helps those public servants get their message out accurately.”</p><p data-block-key=\"70qti\">The Reflector’s Smith told the Tracker that he can’t recall how many times a legislator has approached him with a comment or explanation on the floor about why they voted a particular way or their hopes for a particular bill.</p><p data-block-key=\"ffb8i\">“With these changes, it means that we have to work a little bit harder to do this, and we’ll lose some of that context for the stories. We’re just going to have to continue to raise stories that hold people accountable,” Smith said.</p><p data-block-key=\"fimq2\">Bradbury told the Tracker that while the press association was not consulted before the rules were changed, they are ready and willing to discuss solutions with the speaker that would be mutually agreeable.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/KS_House.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"w9ay4\">Payton Lacey, spokesperson for Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, stands at the “press box” on the chamber floor in Topeka on Jan. 15, 2025. Journalists were banned from reporting from the House floor at the beginning of the 2025 legislative session.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Kansas",
"abbreviation": "KS"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"State government: Legislature"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": [
"Change in policy or practice"
]
},
{
"title": "Colorado TV reporter tackled, choked outside station in apparent bias attack",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-tv-reporter-tackled-choked-outside-station-in-apparent-bias-attack/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-07T21:38:04.496606Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-07T21:39:46.397867Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-07T21:39:46.274012Z",
"date": "2024-12-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Grand Junction",
"longitude": -108.55065,
"latitude": 39.06387,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"upks2\">Ja’Ronn Alex, a news reporter for KKCO/KJCT, was tackled and choked outside the Grand Junction, Colorado, TV station on Dec. 18, 2024, after being followed while driving a news vehicle and challenged over his nationality, according to police records and news reports.</p><p data-block-key=\"9jlq4\">A Colorado man, Patrick Egan, was arrested at the scene and charged with bias-motivated crimes and second-degree assault by strangulation — both felonies — and harassment by following and ethnic intimidation, a misdemeanor.</p><p data-block-key=\"4kunm\">Alex told police that he believed Egan had followed and attacked him because of his ethnicity as a Pacific Islander.</p><p data-block-key=\"3evf8\">The police affidavit said that Alex was driving back to the station from an assignment when Egan began following him in Delta, about 40 miles away. KKCO said in <a href=\"https://www.kkco11news.com/2025/01/02/man-accused-strangling-kkcokjct-reporter-bias-motivated-attack-has-criminal-record-california-according-judge/\">multiple</a> <a href=\"https://www.kkco11news.com/2024/12/23/bail-court-date-set-man-charged-with-strangling-kkcokjct-reporter-bias-related-attack/\">reports</a> that Alex was driving in a news vehicle, and Grand Junction’s Daily Sentinel newspaper <a href=\"https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/man-accused-of-strangling-tv-reporter-has-history-of-mental-illness-lawyer-says/article_203fce1a-c94d-11ef-b3a6-b3385f7ea1de.html\">reported</a> that the vehicle had the TV station’s logos, citing KKCO/KJCT.</p><p data-block-key=\"4aeuc\">According to the affidavit, Alex said that Egan, who was driving a taxi, pulled up next to his car at a stoplight in Grand Junction and shouted “something to the effect of: ‘Are you even a U.S. Citizen? This is Trump’s America now! I’m a Marine and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"2i137\">Alex then called the station’s general manager, Stacey Stewart, who told him to drive straight to the secure station building. Egan continued to follow Alex to the station, where both men parked in front of the building and got out of their cars. Egan chased Alex as he began to run toward the front door of the station, demanding to see his identification and asking him if he was an American, the affidavit said.</p><p data-block-key=\"cgp77\">Egan then tackled Alex to the ground, put him in a headlock and began to strangle him. At that point, several station employees ran outside, pulled Egan away from Alex and held him down until police arrived. The attack was partially captured on surveillance cameras, the affidavit said.</p><p data-block-key=\"dum7g\">Witnesses told police that Egan choked Alex for 45 to 90 seconds, and that his face turned red and he appeared to have difficulty breathing.</p><p data-block-key=\"2dn5n\">Alex, who sustained minor injuries in the attack, declined to comment. Stewart said she could not comment on the attack beyond the stations’ news reports.</p><p data-block-key=\"75tbk\">At Egan’s initial court appearance on Dec. 23, Alex <a href=\"https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/man-accused-of-strangling-tv-reporter-has-history-of-mental-illness-lawyer-says/article_203fce1a-c94d-11ef-b3a6-b3385f7ea1de.html\">said</a> of Egan: “He knows where I work, he knows exactly who I work for, and he still decided to charge at me and put me in a headlock.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bc38j\">Egan appeared in court on Jan. 2, where KKCO reported that the judge kept a protection order in place. Egan <a href=\"https://www.kkco11news.com/2025/01/03/patrick-egan-has-posted-bail-following-charges-bias-motivated-strangulation-attack-kkcokjct-reporter/\">posted</a> $20,000 bail later that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"6aogc\">His lawyer, Ruth Swift, did not return a voicemail requesting comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Alex_screenshot.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sqeup\">Colorado man Patrick Egan faces two felony charges after following a KKCO/KJCT television reporter, demanding to know his nationality, and tackling and choking him outside the Grand Junction TV station on Dec. 18, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
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"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ja’Ronn Alex (KKCO/KJCT)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter denied press credentials by Utah Capitol; files suit for access",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-denied-press-credentials-by-utah-capitol-files-suit-for-access/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-28T21:05:40.316171Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-28T21:05:40.316171Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-28T18:13:25.920817Z",
"date": "2024-12-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Salt Lake City",
"longitude": -111.89105,
"latitude": 40.76078,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f2fhg\">Bryan Schott, founder of the news website Utah Political Watch, was denied credentials for the state’s 2025 legislative session on Dec. 17, 2024, a move he characterized in a subsequent lawsuit against officials in the House and Senate as retaliatory.</p><p data-block-key=\"4hm5p\">Schott told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has covered the statehouse in Salt Lake City for more than 25 years and received Capitol press credentials without issue since 2013. He left The Salt Lake Tribune in mid-2024 to launch the web outlet and is its sole reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ovsa\">In a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/schotthappens.com/post/3ldhitxcjws2q\">post on social media</a>, Schott wrote that he first asked about receiving credentials for the upcoming session on Nov. 5, but didn’t initially receive a response. The Capitol credentialing policy was changed Nov. 24, Schott reported, and explicitly excludes “blogs, independent media or other freelance media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b89kr\">In a new preamble, the <a href=\"https://le.utah.gov/press/MediaAccessCredentialingPolicy.pdf?ref=utahpoliticalwatch.news\">credentialing policy</a> states that the process is “designed to give professional journalists and media representatives from reputable organizations access to cover the legislature and other significant events at the Utah State Capitol.”</p><p data-block-key=\"338mv\">The policy’s language around why credentials may be denied or revoked also changed from “Applicant does not represent a professional media organization” to “Does not represent an established reputable news organization or publication.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7pjri\">Schott told the Tracker that the changes purposefully excluded him and, according to open records requests he made, he was the only one who had been denied a credential. Meanwhile, Schott added, other new and independent outlets haven’t seen their access change.</p><p data-block-key=\"95iqi\">Attorneys with the Institute for Free Speech, which is representing Schott, argued that the retaliatory aspect was made clear in an official’s response to Schott, after he reported Dec. 12 on allegations that Senate President Stuart Adams had violated campaign disclosure laws.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3qgs\">When Schott reached out for comment to Aundrea Peterson, Utah Senate deputy chief of staff and media liaison designee, she accused him of having a “disregard for accurate reporting and ethical standards” and told him “you aren’t a journalist,” according to the <a href=\"https://www.ifs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2-Complaint-w-Exs-A-D-and-Civil-Cover-Sheet.pdf\">lawsuit</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2nsvh\">In the text exchange included in the suit, Schott wrote to Peterson, “It certainly sounds like you’re going to use your criticism of this story you don’t like to deny me a press credential next week.” She responded, “We will follow our policy when reviewing media credential applications.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5fob\">Adams also derided the article in a <a href=\"https://x.com/JStuartAdams/status/1867404744819716512\">post</a> on the social platform X, referring to it as a “blog post” and to Schott as a “former media member,” accusing him of “neglectful journalism that undermines the profession’s integrity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f9pm8\">Schott applied for Capitol press credentials five days later, on Dec. 17. Although he passed the background check, his request was denied based on the new policy’s exclusion of “blogs, independent, or other freelance journalists.” He appealed the decision, but the chiefs of staff for both the House and Senate upheld it Dec. 26.</p><p data-block-key=\"b56j5\">The Utah legislative session began on Jan. 21, 2025, and Schott filed his lawsuit against the chiefs of staff and media liaisons for both legislative chambers the following day. The suit alleges violations of his First and Fourteenth amendment rights and asks for an order requiring the Capitol to credential independent media, as well as nominal damages totaling $17.91, the year the Bill of Rights was ratified.</p><p data-block-key=\"d5vpf\">Schott told the Tracker on Jan. 27 that in the days since, he has missed multiple media availabilities, news conferences and news releases because of his lack of access to areas of the Capitol and exclusion from the press list.</p><p data-block-key=\"fkoq5\">“It’s dangerous when you allow the people who are the subject of reporting to decide who is and who is not a legitimate media outlet or legitimate journalist and that’s what is happening here,” Schott said. “They are picking and choosing who gets to ask them questions, who gets to cover them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bvhi9\">A Feb. 5 hearing is scheduled on Schott’s request for a temporary restraining order requiring the legislature to grant him credentials for the current session, he told the Tracker. But he added that Utah’s legislative session is the shortest in the country, lasting only 45 days, so even if the order is granted that day he will have already missed a third of the session.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Schott_denial.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q1nzn\">Bryan Schott, founder of the news website Utah Political Watch, has sued officials in the state’s House and Senate after being denied credentials for the 2025 legislative session on Dec. 17, 2024.</p>",
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"name": "Utah",
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"ongoing"
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"State government: Legislature"
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"Denial of Access"
],
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"Bryan Schott (Utah Political Watch)"
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"Change in policy or practice",
"Press credential or media list"
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},
{
"title": "TV photographer assaulted by manager at Texas used-car lot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-photographer-assaulted-by-manager-at-texas-used-car-lot/",
"first_published_at": "2024-12-12T16:59:21.236026Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-12T16:59:21.236026Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-12T16:53:42.326246Z",
"date": "2024-12-05",
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"city": "Pasadena",
"longitude": -95.2091,
"latitude": 29.69106,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"os54p\">KPRC-TV photojournalist Oscar Chavez was grabbed, pushed and elbowed multiple times while reporting at a Houston-area used-car dealership in Pasadena, Texas, on Dec. 5, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ihsb\">In a <a href=\"https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/12/05/video-kprc-2-reporter-and-photojournalist-assaulted-while-doing-story-on-used-car-lot/\">report for the outlet</a>, reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-reporter-shoved-phone-thrown-by-manager-at-texas-used-car-lot\">Gage Goulding</a> recounted that he and Chavez went to the business to investigate a young woman’s allegations that she was conned out of $1,500 when trying to buy a car.</p><p data-block-key=\"7acqa\">Goulding reportedly went undercover as a potential customer to see whether he’d have a similar experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"19a9h\">“Wearing a microphone, but without a camera, Goulding got the keys to a Jeep and with the salesman, started the engine and talked about test-driving the vehicle,” KPRC-TV reported. “At that point, he informed the salesman who he was and why he was there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8qia4\">In <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/GageGouldingTV/videos/2422483971430371\">recordings</a> of the exchange that followed, the salesman is heard inviting Goulding inside to speak with the manager, David Estrada. Goulding — with Chavez following behind with a camera — began asking Estrada about the woman’s experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"2pgq6\">“When we do these stories and confront businesses, we usually are met with one simple answer: Please leave. And we do, we abide by that,” Goulding reported. “But this story was different from the get-go.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dbltl\">Estrada stood and without warning placed his hand on Chavez’s camera and began pushing the photojournalist outside. Outside the office, Estrada continued grabbing the camera while Goulding yelled for him not to touch their equipment and Chavez said that they were leaving.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mfhh\">“Meanwhile, the car salesman is grabbing (Chavez’s) camera, twisting his arm and throwing elbows,” Goulding said in his report.</p><p data-block-key=\"9t3ua\">Estrada also smacked Goulding’s phone “through the air” and pinned Chavez in the journalists’ vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"81t2q\">Neither journalist responded to requests for additional comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"aap7h\">KPRC-TV reported that Estrada was arrested that day on two counts of assault. Estrada is also facing unrelated charges for allegedly embezzling more than $140,000 from another dealership, <a href=\"https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/12/06/pasadena-salesman-arrested-for-assault-on-kprc-news-crew-also-accused-of-stealing-over-144k-from-tomball-dealership/\">according to the station</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ibbd\">The woman whose experience sparked the investigation was contacted by the dealership and told she would be overnighted a check for the full $1,500.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6g31\">“The goal of this story wasn’t to create any drama,” Goulding reported. “It was to get answers for (the woman) and her family. And the good news is: We did get those answers.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Oscar_Chavez_assault.a418535b.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2gvy6\">KPRC-TV photojournalist Oscar Chavez, right, was shoved and grabbed by the manager of a Houston-area used-car dealership in Pasadena, Texas, while he and reporter Gage Goulding were investigating allegations of fraud on Dec. 5, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Oscar Chavez (KPRC-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "TV reporter shoved, phone thrown by manager at Texas used-car lot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-reporter-shoved-phone-thrown-by-manager-at-texas-used-car-lot/",
"first_published_at": "2024-12-12T16:59:49.714771Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-12T16:59:49.714771Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-12T16:53:27.169800Z",
"date": "2024-12-05",
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"city": "Pasadena",
"longitude": -95.2091,
"latitude": 29.69106,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"izkbz\">KPRC-TV reporter Gage Goulding was shoved and his camera smacked out of his hands while reporting at a Houston-area used-car dealership in Pasadena, Texas, on Dec. 5, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"etkjk\">In a <a href=\"https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/12/05/video-kprc-2-reporter-and-photojournalist-assaulted-while-doing-story-on-used-car-lot/\">report for the outlet</a>, Goulding recounted that he and photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-photographer-assaulted-by-manager-at-texas-used-car-lot\">Oscar Chavez</a> went to the business to investigate a young woman’s allegations that she was conned out of $1,500 when trying to buy a car.</p><p data-block-key=\"a0q6a\">Goulding reportedly went undercover as a potential customer to see whether he’d have a similar experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs9t1\">“Wearing a microphone, but without a camera, Goulding got the keys to a Jeep and with the salesman, started the engine and talked about test-driving the vehicle,” KPRC-TV reported. “At that point, he informed the salesman who he was and why he was there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fv78n\">In <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/GageGouldingTV/videos/2422483971430371\">recordings</a> of the exchange that followed, the salesman is heard inviting Goulding inside to speak with the manager, David Estrada. Goulding — with Chavez following behind with a camera — began asking Estrada about the woman’s experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"14ft1\">“When we do these stories and confront businesses, we usually are met with one simple answer: Please leave. And we do, we abide by that,” Goulding reported. “But this story was different from the get-go.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fig0\">Estrada stood and without warning placed his hand on Chavez’s camera and began pushing the photojournalist outside. Outside the office, Estrada continued grabbing the camera while Goulding yelled for him not to touch their equipment and Chavez said that they were leaving.</p><p data-block-key=\"42f56\">“Meanwhile, the car salesman is grabbing (Chavez’s) camera, twisting his arm and throwing elbows,” Goulding said in his report.</p><p data-block-key=\"egeq5\">Estrada also smacked Goulding’s phone “through the air” and pinned Chavez in the journalists’ vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"2odrt\">Neither journalist responded to requests for additional comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ci4e\">KPRC-TV reported that Estrada was arrested that day on two counts of assault. Estrada is also facing unrelated charges for allegedly embezzling more than $140,000 from another dealership, <a href=\"https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/12/06/pasadena-salesman-arrested-for-assault-on-kprc-news-crew-also-accused-of-stealing-over-144k-from-tomball-dealership/\">according to the station</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"73sl2\">The woman whose experience sparked the investigation was contacted by the dealership and told she would be overnighted a check for the full $1,500.</p><p data-block-key=\"cmjoa\">“The goal of this story wasn’t to create any drama,” Goulding reported. “It was to get answers for (the woman) and her family. And the good news is: We did get those answers.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Goulding_assault.f21e9435.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1ge1k\">KPRC-TV reporter Gage Goulding, right, reports from the station’s studio on the arrest of a Houston-area man who assaulted him and photojournalist Oscar Chavez at a used-car dealership in Pasadena, Texas, on Dec. 5, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"Gage Goulding (KPRC-TV)"
],
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{
"title": "Journalist ordered to turn over notes, communications around murder trial",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-ordered-to-turn-over-notes-communications-around-murder-trial/",
"first_published_at": "2025-02-24T16:30:40.974780Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-24T16:30:40.974780Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-24T16:25:57.804173Z",
"date": "2024-11-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Dedham",
"longitude": -71.16616,
"latitude": 42.24177,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"b7kwg\">Boston magazine contributing editor Gretchen Voss was subpoenaed on Nov. 21, 2024, for confidential newsgathering materials in connection with a murder trial in Dedham, Massachusetts. After initially upholding the motion in December, the judge partially reversed the order almost two months later.</p><p data-block-key=\"cecng\">In June and July 2023, Voss <a href=\"https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2023/09/27/canton-karen-read/\">interviewed Karen Read</a>, who stands accused of the murder of her boyfriend in a case that has captured national attention.</p><p data-block-key=\"670eh\">Prosecutors first attempted in January 2024 to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-turns-over-interview-recordings-in-connection-with-murder-trial\">compel the disclosure</a> of the journalist’s notes and recordings of the interviews. Massachusetts does not have a formally recognized reporter’s shield law protecting journalists from being forced to disclose newsgathering materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"2iorp\">Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone denied the prosecutor’s request for the off-the-record portions of the interviews and notes handwritten by Voss, but ordered her to produce copies of Read’s recorded on-the-record comments. Voss provided the redacted recordings.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ki93\">The case against Read ended in a mistrial in July and was scheduled for a retrial in early 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"4u2c9\">The state renewed its request for the notes and unredacted interview recordings in November 2024, ahead of the second trial. Prosecutors also requested copies of any texts, emails or voicemail communications Voss had with Read.</p><p data-block-key=\"dfpe2\">“The defendant made a tactical decision to be interviewed. There is no legal justification enabling a defendant to pick and choose what statements can and should be disseminated to the public,” the motion said. “The ‘off the record’ promise has no legal import, and this Commonwealth does not recognize the private agreement between the defendant and the news sources.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aiss5\">Cannone granted the government’s request on Dec. 5 and ordered Voss to produce the documents by Jan. 2, 2025. Voss filed a motion for reconsideration regarding her notes, writing in an affidavit that forcing her to turn them over would jeopardize her credibility with sources in the future and her ability to work as an investigative journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"ds41f\">“Obtaining information from sources ‘off the record’ is a normal—and critical—part of my work,” Voss wrote. “Keeping my word on this is critical to maintaining credibility and trust, and thus maintaining source relationships while not intervening with the flow of important information to the public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"el3l5\">Robert Bertsche, an attorney representing Voss and Boston magazine, argued in the motion that courts have cautioned against making journalists “discovery agents for the government.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bcifg\">“What is the Commonwealth seeking now from the taped interviews? Exactly what it forswore earlier: the statements made by Karen Read’s attorneys during those interviews,” Bertsche wrote. “The Commonwealth is commandeering a journalist merely in the hopes that the journalist’s records will prove useful to its case.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9iqgh\">Cannone ordered Voss to provide the notes for “in camera review” — where the judge privately views disputed materials to determine relevance — by Jan. 13, and Voss complied.</p><p data-block-key=\"v9rn\">During a Jan. 31 hearing, Cannone partially reversed her decision and ruled that Voss would not be compelled to turn over her off-the-record notes, the Boston Herald <a href=\"https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/02/01/karen-read-judge-rules-in-favor-of-boston-magazine-the-free-flow-of-information/\">reported</a>. “Voss has articulated a compelling argument that requiring disclosure of the notes poses a greater risk to the free flow of information than the other materials produced,” Cannone wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"b3aev\">The judge ruled, however, that the unredacted copies of her on-the-record interviews with Read — which had excluded off-the-record comments from both Read and her attorneys — must be turned over to prosecutors.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3tt9\">Neither Voss nor Bertsche responded to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Voss_motion.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"kwqr6\">A portion of Massachusetts prosecutors’ Nov. 21, 2024, motion to force Boston magazine contributing editor Gretchen Voss to disclose her off-the-record interview notes and communications with Karen Read ahead of Read’s retrial on murder charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
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{
"title": "FBI arrests man for hate-based threats against New York reporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fbi-arrests-man-for-hate-based-threats-against-new-york-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-21T21:47:15.271899Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-21T21:47:15.271899Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-21T21:46:44.901462Z",
"date": "2024-11-15",
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"city": "White Plains",
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"latitude": 41.03399,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o93g5\">The FBI arrested a man on Nov. 15, 2024, who was allegedly behind a series of hate-based threats against a reporter in New York’s Hudson Valley.</p><p data-block-key=\"d06dh\">The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/south-carolina-man-arrested-hate-based-threats-kill-news-reporter-and-her-family\">announced</a> that Austin Suman was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, after having allegedly made a series of “violent and hate-based threats” to a news reporter in Orange County via Facebook and email a week prior.</p><p data-block-key=\"4rt3j\">“Hiding behind a screen will not prevent the FBI’s pursuit of those who target others with hateful messages of violence and death,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Dennehy said.</p><p data-block-key=\"48bom\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/d9/2024-11/u.s._v._suman_complaint.pdf\">complaint</a>, Suman targeted the reporter over her coverage of his arrest in 2019 for allegedly threatening his roommate with a gun, which resulted in his firearms being seized.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3igt\">Suman’s Nov. 8 messages derided the reporter as a “dumb fuckin cunt,” adding “female journalist what a joke.” He repeatedly used an ethnic slur against people of Hispanic, Latin American or Spanish descent, and asserted, “We are going to deport your family all of them.” Suman then bragged about having “more guns than ever,” and threatened to bomb the reporter’s home and to kill her and her family.</p><p data-block-key=\"iqj2\">Suman was charged with threatening interstate communications, making a threat involving explosives and interstate stalking. His case will be handled in federal court in White Plains, and he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.</p><p data-block-key=\"4lov7\">The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that addressing such aggressions against journalists is a priority.</p><p data-block-key=\"e2gac\">“The charges against the defendant demonstrate our resolve to work at lightning speed to neutralize threats against the press—which serves a vital role in our democracy,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. “To any individual who dares to cross the line and make hate-based threats against members of our press: you will be found, and you will be held accountable for your actions.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2024-11-19_at_7.18.40P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qn2fg\">A portion of the complaint against Austin Suman, alleging that he sent a series of violent, hate-based threats to a New York reporter on Nov. 8, 2024. Suman was arrested Nov. 15 in South Carolina.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified reporter 8"
],
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},
{
"title": "FCC commissioner accuses media ratings provider of censorship",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fcc-commissioner-accuses-media-ratings-provider-of-censorship/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-08T14:34:58.015806Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-08T14:34:58.015806Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-08T14:34:57.826523Z",
"date": "2024-11-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"73axa\">FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr accused private company NewsGuard, which uses journalistic methods to generate reliability ratings of media outlets, of participating in a “censorship cartel” in a Nov. 13, 2024, letter to four tech companies.</p><p data-block-key=\"9kpt4\">Carr accused NewsGuard of targeting and censoring certain outlets by giving them low credibility ratings and allowing bias to shape its ratings.</p><p data-block-key=\"bgjuf\">In the <a href=\"https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-407732A1.pdf\">letter</a> to the heads of Microsoft, Apple, Meta — which owns Facebook and Instagram — and Alphabet — which owns Google — Carr demanded lists of every product or service that relies on NewsGuard, information he said would “inform the FCC’s work to promote free speech and a diversity of viewpoints.”</p><p data-block-key=\"54thf\">Carr posted the letter on X, writing, “The Orwellian named NewsGuard along with ‘fact checking’ groups & ad agencies helped enforce one-sided narratives.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft & others have played central roles in the censorship cartel.<br><br>The Orwellian named NewsGuard along with “fact checking” groups & ad agencies helped enforce one-sided narratives.<br><br>The censorship cartel must be dismantled. <a href=\"https://t.co/Xf0sEYOUfv\">pic.twitter.com/Xf0sEYOUfv</a></p>— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1857419658812440927?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2024</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=\"73axa\">According to <a href=\"https://www.newsguardtech.com/\">NewsGuard’s website</a>, it employs “a team of journalists and experienced editors” to produce reliability ratings for online publishers using “journalistic criteria.” In a <a href=\"https://www.newsguardtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/NewsGuard-Statement-on-Brendan-Carr-Letter.pdf\">statement</a> responding to Carr’s letter, the company argued that the commissioner’s accusations were based on “false reports,” including from conservative outlet Newsmax, which NewsGuard has given a low credibility rating.</p><p data-block-key=\"1i8m9\">“Our journalism is itself speech protected by the First Amendment,” NewsGuard stated. “We’re concerned to see a government official using the powers of his office, however unwittingly after having been misled by Newsmax, to attempt to prevent a private company (NewsGuard) from producing journalistic content.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fjghh\">When reached for comment about NewsGuard’s statement, Carr <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/24/newsguard-disinformation-censorship-free-speech/\">told</a> The Washington Post, “NewsGuard’s response is a jumble of disinformation, deception and sleight of hand. In other words, it mirrors NewsGuard’s business model, in my opinion.”</p><p data-block-key=\"19pbu\">Carr seems to be attempting to punish the company “for doing journalism,” NewsGuard Co-Editor-in-Chief Steven Brill <a href=\"https://deadline.com/2024/12/newsguard-newsmax-trump-fcc-1236202249/\">told</a> Deadline. “It’s like saying I am going to penalize Consumer Reports because it’s giving people information when they are looking to buy a toaster.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1o5qs\">Carr was appointed to the FCC in 2017 by President Donald Trump. On Nov. 17, 2024, after winning reelection, Trump <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-brendan-carr-federal-communications-commission-rcna180567\">announced</a> that he had selected Carr as FCC chair, calling him “a warrior for Free Speech.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2b2tk\">Carr has supported Trump’s calls for <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-calls-nbc-fake-news-and-suggests-fcc-should-challenge-its-broadcast-license/\">NBC</a>, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/politics-and-the-press/#Oct-10-2024-Trump\">CBS</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/politics-and-the-press/#Sept-11-2024-Trump\">ABC</a> 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>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"y0mid\">FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr in 2023. Carr sent a letter to four tech companies on Nov. 13, 2024, demanding information about their work with NewsGuard, a media reliability rater that he accused of participating in a “censorship cartel.”</p>",
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"Chilling Statement"
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},
{
"title": "California court clerk charged with providing search warrant to reporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-court-clerk-charged-with-providing-search-warrant-to-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-15T19:34:23.392150Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-18T18:37:05.104735Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-18T18:37:04.968757Z",
"date": "2024-11-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Stockton",
"longitude": -121.29078,
"latitude": 37.9577,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"osdzh\">Pamela Edwards — a former clerk for the San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton, California — was charged on Nov. 13, 2024, with allegedly releasing a sealed search warrant to a reporter a year prior.</p><p data-block-key=\"36rlj\">In November 2023, sheriff’s deputies <a href=\"https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/2023/11/14/search-warrants-served-at-stockton-unified-office-trustees-home/71585337007/\">searched</a> the home of the Stockton Unified School District board president and the school board’s headquarters as part of an investigation into the official’s alleged misuse of a school district credit card, witness intimidation and other misconduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"3u1ub\">Later that month, Stockton Record reporter Aaron Leathley <a href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2023/11/28/warrant-reveals-why-stockton-unifieds-angelann-flores-was-searched/71627562007/\">reported</a> on various details from the search warrant, a copy of which the paper had obtained from the San Joaquin County Superior Court.</p><p data-block-key=\"6t1bm\">A day after the article was published, the Record <a href=\"https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/local/2024/09/12/sheriffs-deputies-visit-home-of-stockton-record-reporter-for-unclear-reasons/75076689007/\">reported</a>, a public information officer for the court emailed Leathley to tell her that the warrant had been released accidentally and ask her “to prevent any further dissemination of this document by copying, sharing, or using it for further publication.” The sheriff’s office also said at the time that the warrant should not have been released, according to the Record.</p><p data-block-key=\"5v52a\">A <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/SJSheriff/posts/pfbid02CYG9zgTsvyiUiARr92Tag3zHkf9ncz2ShJmmAXM1aqbsvAYZ5nE8wqV51uiR2BrXl\">statement</a> from the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office called the warrant “highly sensitive” and said Edwards had violated a court order by releasing it.</p><p data-block-key=\"9j3a3\">“At no time was the warrant ‘unsealed’ and its release may have negatively impacted our investigation,” the statement said. “We consulted with the District Attorney’s Office, and we are in agreement that we could not allow this egregious violation of trust and criminal act by a 27-year veteran of our justice community (who knew better and is held to a higher standard) not to be accountable for her actions.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8g275\">Two deputies <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputies-question-reporter-at-her-home/\">visited</a> Leathley at her Stockton home on Aug. 30, 2024, to question her about the release of the search warrant and a “cease and desist” they claimed she was sent. When contacted at the time, a sheriff’s department spokesperson told the Tracker that there was an ongoing investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"bbaei\">Edwards was ultimately arrested in November and charged with <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=166.\">willful disobedience of a court order</a>, according to a <a href=\"https://www.sjgov.org/department/da/news/press-release/2024/11/14/court-clerk-arrested-for-violating-court-order\">news release</a> from District Attorney Ronald Freitas.</p><p data-block-key=\"enmqa\">“Violating the sanctity of a Court Order, especially a sealed warrant, is not only an assault on our justice system but puts law enforcement and potential witnesses in harm’s way,” Freitas said. “We will hold all those involved in this case fully responsible for this violation of our courts and our justice system.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6rce0\">Edwards’ arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 4.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"h24b2\">In California, a former San Joaquin County Superior Court clerk was charged on Nov. 13, 2024, with violating a court order, above, by releasing a copy of a sealed search warrant to Stockton Record reporter Aaron Leathley in November 2023.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "California",
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},
{
"title": "Indiana student paper says state politician’s posts about outlet threatening",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indiana-student-paper-says-state-politicians-posts-about-outlet-threatening/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-15T13:59:51.215163Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-15T13:59:51.215163Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-15T13:57:38.241858Z",
"date": "2024-11-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Bloomington",
"longitude": -86.52639,
"latitude": 39.16533,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3agm5\">The student newspaper at Indiana University Bloomington was targeted on social media by a state politician on Nov. 12, 2024. The outlet said the posts were intended to chill its reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"1vu7d\">Micah Beckwith — Indiana’s newly elected lieutenant governor and a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWcRrcvWYds\">self-described Christian nationalist</a> who serves as a pastor in Noblesville — used his official accounts on the social platforms <a href=\"https://x.com/MicahBeckwith/status/1856349131981087004\">X</a> and <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MicahBeckwith4Indiana/posts/pfbid023ABAZHTPH74LRiEZ78EeyP7fmPtc8XppbWoN5P1JvWceXHYsT2oPwDnknMzduZwAl\">Facebook</a> to criticize the Indiana Daily Student’s Nov. 7 front cover. The cover featured an illustration of President-elect Donald Trump overlaid with unfavorable quotes from his former allies.</p><p data-block-key=\"8u20b\">“This is WOKE propaganda at its finest and why most of America looks at higher education indoctrination centers like IU as a complete joke and waste of money,” Beckwith wrote. “This type of elitist leftist propaganda needs to stop or we will be happy to stop it for them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eic1h\">Beckwith also asserted that the publication was “Your tax dollars at work.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9lgeg\">IDS <a href=\"https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/11/beckwith-ids-threatens-iu-indiana-braun\">reported</a> that Beckwith’s posts were meant as a threat to both the newspaper and the university.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Indiana Lieutenant Governor-elect Micah Beckwith threatened the IDS and IU in an X post Tuesday over the IDS’ Nov. 7 front cover, which featured a photo illustration of President-elect Donald Trump with quotes from his former political allies. <a href=\"https://t.co/JYckyhJ3mL\">https://t.co/JYckyhJ3mL</a></p>— Indiana Daily Student (@idsnews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/idsnews/status/1856427001550094464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 12, 2024</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=\"3agm5\">Co-Editor-in-Chief Jacob Spudich defended the newspaper’s cover, telling the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the intention was to engage multiple interpretations.<br/><br/> “If you are somebody who didn’t vote for Trump and are feeling devastated, you can look at and just kind of be, like, ‘Wow, all this stuff happened yet he still won,’” Spudich said. “And if you're a supporter of Trump, you can look at all this, all the quotes and everything that his former allies and advisers were saying, and say, like, ‘Wow, all this was said about him, yet he still triumphed and won the election.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"ntds\">Spudich added that the paper welcomes any criticism of its content, but will staunchly defend the First Amendment and the freedoms it grants the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"38idi\">Beckwith, when reached by phone, told the Tracker that he also respects press freedom and that his intention was to identify the coverage as symptomatic of an issue he sees within the university system as a whole.</p><p data-block-key=\"3rqtt\">“It’s not just the student newspaper. I think it’s a general problem that we’ve seen at IU over the course of the last few decades, where it is, again, silencing conservative viewpoints,” Beckwith said. “So I think it’s appropriate to say, ‘OK, our tax dollars are going to this: Is it giving a fair and honest voice to everyone involved?’”</p><p data-block-key=\"euujj\">Beckwith clarified that this is not an official stance of Gov.-elect Mike Braun’s administration: “This is just me calling out something that needs to be addressed and bringing it into sunlight.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5oftl\">Beckwith also said that the university’s board of trustees or the president of the college should be involved in evaluating whether the student publication is being “fair and honest.” In an <a href=\"https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/11/beckwith-alleges-covert-funding-suppression-at-iu-during-interview-with-ids-read-the-transcript\">interview with IDS</a>, Beckwith said the state should investigate whether the university is using taxpayer money in “covert” ways to support the newspaper.</p><p data-block-key=\"bs86\">Spudich told the Tracker that IDS is financially and editorially independent from the university, so doesn’t receive any tax dollars. The newspaper reported that it generates its revenue through advertisements and events, and pays a tax to the university for the space it operates out of on campus.</p><p data-block-key=\"bjcv5\">While any threats to the press are concerning, Spudich told the Tracker, the student journalists remain undeterred.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t0ve\">“For the most part, we have an incredibly resilient newsroom,” he said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8gv2s\">The Indiana Daily Student, the student newspaper at Indiana University Bloomington (pictured above), was targeted on Nov. 12, 2024, on social media by Lt. Gov.-elect Micah Beckwith, who accused it of engaging in “elitist leftist propaganda.”</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
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},
{
"title": "Three arrested in murder-for-hire plot against Iranian American journalist",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/three-arrested-in-murder-for-hire-plot-against-iranian-american-journalist/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-12T20:17:25.713699Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-12T20:17:25.713699Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-12T20:15:41.557255Z",
"date": "2024-11-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"405sh\">The Department of Justice announced charges on Nov. 8, 2024, against three men it accused of surveilling and plotting to murder New York-based Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad. Thirteen others have been indicted in connection with murder-for-hire plots against Alinejad.</p><p data-block-key=\"4adjb\">Alinejad, referred to as “Victim-1” in the DOJ’s <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-murder-hire-and-related-charges-against-irgc-asset-and-two\">news release</a>, confirmed in a <a href=\"https://x.com/alinejadmasih/status/1854959153770643838?s=46\">social media post</a> that she was the target of the plot. Iranian citizen Farhad Shakeri and U.S. citizens Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt have been charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and money laundering conspiracy. Rivera and Loadholt were arrested on Nov. 7.</p><p data-block-key=\"1vej8\">Shakeri, who the DOJ said is still at large, was also allegedly tasked with “providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1dt7h\">“I just learned from the @FBI that two men were arrested yesterday in a new plot to kill me at Fairfield University, where I was scheduled to give a talk,” Alinejad wrote in the social media post. “I came to America to practice my First Amendment right to freedom of speech—I don’t want to die. I want to fight against tyranny, and I deserve to be safe.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I am shocked. I just learned from the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FBI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FBI</a> that two men were arrested yesterday in a new plot to kill me at Fairfield University, where I was scheduled to give a talk.<br><br>I also learned that the person assigned to assassinate <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@realDonaldTrump</a> was also assigned to kill me on U.S.… <a href=\"https://t.co/3dL8yzBpQl\">pic.twitter.com/3dL8yzBpQl</a></p>— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlinejadMasih/status/1854959153770643838?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 8, 2024</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=\"405sh\">Alinejad, a U.S. citizen originally from Iran, is a vocal critic of the Iranian government and fled that country in 2009, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/nyregion/iran-masih-alinejad-kidnapping.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=New%20York\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8a2m4\">Shakeri was also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization — the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the government of Iran.</p><p data-block-key=\"3dpt4\">Since July 2021, thirteen people <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/five-indicted-in-connection-with-plot-to-kidnap-iranian-american-journalist/\">have been charged</a> in connection with plans to kidnap and murder Alinejad, some of whom the DOJ alleges are connected to the Iranian government.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP24052782973886.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"6zhaz\">Iranian American independent journalist Masih Alinejad in New York in 2023. The Justice Department announced charges on Nov. 8, 2024, against three men it accused of plotting to murder her.</p>",
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{
"title": "California journalist grabbed by sheriff’s deputy at county board meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-journalist-grabbed-by-sheriffs-deputy-at-county-board-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-19T21:34:37.657777Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-19T21:34:37.657777Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-19T21:34:37.460772Z",
"date": "2024-11-07",
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"city": "Redding",
"longitude": -122.39168,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2fsen\">Journalist Doni Chamberlain was grabbed and forced out of a Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting in Redding, California, by a sheriff’s deputy on Nov. 7, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"6pbmm\">Chamberlain, publisher and owner of A News Cafe, an online news magazine, <a href=\"https://anewscafe.com/2024/11/12/redding/sheriffs-deputy-grabs-anc-publishers-arms-and-cell-phone-shoves-her-from-board-chambers/\">reported</a> that she was one of several journalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-forced-from-california-county-meeting-during-protesters-arrest\">ejected from the meeting</a> after law enforcement began the arrest of a protester who had seated herself in front of the dais. Chamberlain told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she believed that the ejection was intended to prevent them from covering the protest and subsequent arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"nkgr\">Chamberlain began livestreaming the meeting when two protesters seated themselves on the floor at the front of the room, one holding a sign supporting a county official who had been criticized over election monitoring practices. When the board chair called a recess and ordered the public to leave the room, three journalists, including Chamberlain, remained.</p><p data-block-key=\"3l19e\">Security guards asked Chamberlain to leave the room several times and stood in front of her phone camera as she livestreamed the protesters. Chamberlain told him that she had the right to remain there as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"471mt\">The second protester soon left, but the first refused. A group of sheriff’s deputies then entered, some of whom arrested the remaining protester. Another joined the security guards in ordering the journalists to move further back in the room, telling them that safety issues and an “ongoing investigation” required that they leave and threatening them with arrest. The lights in the room were also turned off as the arrest proceeded.</p><p data-block-key=\"4fk6c\">“Clearly, law enforcement’s goal was to move the press as far from their dealings with (the protester) as possible, so we couldn’t see, hear, or report,” Chamberlain told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"fj2lr\">The two other reporters left the room, leaving Chamberlain standing in the open doorway. A sheriff’s deputy ordered her into the foyer; Chamberlain again refused, saying that she had a right as a member of the press to remain there as long as the protest and arrest were ongoing in the board chambers.</p><p data-block-key=\"9l2fg\">The deputy gestured at a colleague, who grabbed Chamberlain’s cellphone, causing her Facebook Live feed to go dark. He then let go of her phone and took hold of both of her upper arms, pushing her out of the room.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvphv\">She reported that her arms were sore after being “roughly grabbed,” but that her phone was not damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"5fuob\">Chamberlain told the Tracker that the security guard and sheriff’s deputies “absolutely knew I was a member of the press, because I repeatedly verbally identified myself as a journalist who had a protected First Amendment right to remain in the room where a peaceful protester was being dealt with by multiple deputies.”</p><p data-block-key=\"10c3k\">She said that she typically doesn’t wear a press pass because she’s well-known in the county after 30 years of journalism, but added, “From now on, I’ll start wearing a press pass to all events.”</p><p data-block-key=\"er34h\">Chamberlain also explained that she prefers to attend the board’s meetings in person because the online livestream is turned off during recesses or if a problem arises — and such situations are “not rare.” “This means anyone watching the livestreaming video is suddenly, literally, in the dark about what’s happening,” she said. So when the livestream stops, Chamberlain said she starts streaming the meeting on Facebook Live for the benefit of the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"7a16a\">After the ejection, Supervisor Tim Garman <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cfe2qYf2S/\">posted an apology</a> on Facebook to media forced out of the meeting room.</p><p data-block-key=\"drt1a\">“The constitution protects their rights to be where the news is happening, and someone being arrested in a public building is certainly news,” he wrote. “There was zero safety threat inside the board chambers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fjalh\">Chamberlain told the Tracker she intends to file a complaint with the Sheriff’s Office against the deputies and another with the Shasta County Administration Office against the board chair. She also said that she reported the incident to the ACLU and the First Amendment Coalition, and is looking for an attorney.</p><p data-block-key=\"7tgee\">Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office reiterated in a <a href=\"https://anewscafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/462560013_541467338855108_92698175770891807_n.jpg\">news release</a> that the meeting room had been cleared “for safety,” and announced that “this incident remains under investigation and other individuals who failed to obey lawful orders to exit the chambers may also face charges.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bmc13\">Chamberlain mentioned that several militia group members showed up at the meeting and stood along the back wall, “which made for an intimidating sight.” Chamberlain was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-reporter-assaulted-at-meeting-as-man-grabs-camera/\">assaulted in July 2023</a> while attempting to document a meeting of a group of conservative activists planned by Jesse Lane, one of the militia members present at the Nov. 7 meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"66kdj\">“After these two assaults, I feel less and less safe working as a journalist,” Chamberlain told the Tracker. “These are scary days to be a journalist.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Chamberlain_screenshot.2e517213.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bc7tw\">During a protester’s arrest, sheriff’s deputies grabbed reporter Doni Chamberlain by the arms and forced her out of a Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting in Redding, California, on Nov. 7, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"protest"
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{
"title": "Reporters forced from California county meeting during protester’s arrest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-forced-from-california-county-meeting-during-protesters-arrest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-19T21:34:58.504895Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-19T21:50:31.102609Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-19T21:50:31.015642Z",
"date": "2024-11-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Redding",
"longitude": -122.39168,
"latitude": 40.58654,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2mib2\">Members of the press were ejected by sheriff’s deputies from a Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting in Redding, California, on Nov. 7, 2024. The deputies claimed that the room was cleared for safety reasons as they arrested a protester who had seated herself in front of the dais.</p><p data-block-key=\"clpsh\">The protester, one of two, held a sign supporting a county official who had been criticized over election monitoring practices. When the board chair called a recess and ordered the public to leave the room, three journalists remained — Doni Chamberlain of A News Cafe, Annelise Pierce of Shasta Scout and David Benda of the Record Searchlight.</p><p data-block-key=\"cltok\">The second protester soon left, but the first refused. Pierce told County Counsel Joseph Larmour, who had also ordered the reporters out of the room, that she was staying to document a citizen’s actions, the Shasta Scout <a href=\"https://shastascout.org/press-freedom-organization-says-shasta-countys-decision-viol/\">reported</a>. Larmour responded that the protester was “a ‘target’ of law enforcement and therefore didn’t ‘count’ as a citizen.”</p><p data-block-key=\"equir\">A group of sheriff’s deputies then entered, some of whom arrested the remaining protester. Another joined security guards in ordering the journalists to move further back in the room, telling them that safety issues and an “ongoing investigation” required that they leave and threatening them with arrest. The lights in the room were also turned off as the arrest proceeded.</p><p data-block-key=\"7unq9\">Pierce and Benda left the room; Chamberlain was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-journalist-grabbed-by-sheriffs-deputy-at-county-board-meeting\">grabbed and forcibly removed</a> by a sheriff’s deputy. After the protester was removed, the meeting reconvened and the journalists reentered.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3uve\">Later, Supervisor Tim Garman <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cfe2qYf2S/\">posted an apology</a> on Facebook to media forced out of the meeting room.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qcc4\">“The constitution protects their rights to be where the news is happening, and someone being arrested in a public building is certainly news,” he wrote. “There was zero safety threat inside the board chambers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cipu5\">Meanwhile, the Shasta County Sheriff reiterated in a <a href=\"https://anewscafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/462560013_541467338855108_92698175770891807_n.jpg\">news release</a> that the meeting room had been cleared “for safety,” and announced that “this incident remains under investigation and other individuals who failed to obey lawful orders to exit the chambers may also face charges.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a79tf\">The board also issued its own <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25290395-2024-11-12-fac-ltr-to-shasta-co-bos-sheriff-w-attachments#document/p6\">news release</a>, alleging that press had been removed under “a protocol that has been in place for more than a year.” Shasta Scout reported that in response to a request for documentation of the protocol, Larmour acknowledged it had “not been memorialized in writing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"er08d\">It was the second time reporters were ordered to leave the room during a protest at a supervisor’s meeting. The first was in July, when the same woman protested. That time, journalists remained to report on her arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"ft068\">After that arrest, the board announced a new media policy under which media must stay sequestered in a separate room, watching the meetings through glass windows and only hearing audio spoken through a microphone, Shasta Scout <a href=\"https://shastascout.org/shasta-county-plans-to-restrict-media-access-at-public-meetings/\">reported</a>. If press chose to stay in the main room, they would be ordered to leave during any “disruptions.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2fm8p\">The policy was <a href=\"https://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2024/08/01/shasta-county-drops-new-media-policy-after-public-backlash/74640536007/\">rescinded</a> days later, after criticism from the public and advocacy group First Amendment Coalition, which called it a violation of California’s open meetings law and the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"8bahj\">Reporter Chamberlain told the Tracker she saw Nov. 7’s events as a reaction to press coverage of the earlier protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"9msn0\">“I believe Chair Kevin Crye and Sheriff Mike Johnson were angry and embarrassed by our reporting about (the protester),” Chamberlain told the Tracker. “I believe they decided they would not allow press access to report what happened again.”</p><p data-block-key=\"57gls\">In a <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25290395-2024-11-12-fac-ltr-to-shasta-co-bos-sheriff-w-attachments?responsive=1&title=1\">Nov. 12 letter</a> to the board and sheriff’s office, the First Amendment Coalition criticized the media’s removal from the Nov. 7 meeting as another violation of open meetings law and the Constitution, noting that there was little justification for clearing the room at all, let alone ordering the press to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"12pta\">Pierce told the Tracker that she was surprised that the deputies would engage in such “a clear violation of First Amendment rights,” but that “there have been ongoing indication of threats to press freedom under our new board majority,” a reference to the media policy enacted in July.</p><p data-block-key=\"71bgf\">Chamberlain mentioned that several militia group members showed up at the Nov. 7 meeting and stood along the back wall, “which made for an intimidating sight.”</p><p data-block-key=\"70cuv\">“Shasta County law enforcement has a history of colluding with the militia,” Pierce added. “For this reason, I found the arrival of individuals, some known to be militia members, particularly concerning.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2024-11-19_at_4.39.45P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"keg53\">Excerpt of a news release from the Shasta County Board of Supervisors after press were ejected from a Nov. 7, 2024, board meeting in Redding, California. The ejection occurred during a protester’s arrest by sheriff’s deputies.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"protest"
],
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"Local government: Legislature"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Doni Chamberlain (A News Cafe)",
"Annelise Pierce (Shasta Scout)",
"David Benda (Record Searchlight)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": [
"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "Philadelphia 76ers player shoves columnist in locker room over article",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/philadelphia-76ers-player-shoves-columnist-in-locker-room-over-article/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-06T19:37:22.204705Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-06T19:37:22.204705Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-06T19:13:52.672756Z",
"date": "2024-11-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Philadelphia",
"longitude": -75.16362,
"latitude": 39.95238,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2bsr1\">Marcus Hayes, a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, was shoved by a player for the 76ers following a home game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 2, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"78da3\">The Inquirer <a href=\"https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/joel-embiid-marcus-hayes-sixers-inquirer-locker-room-grizzlies-20241103.html\">reported</a> that following the team’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, center Joel Embiid sought Hayes out in the locker room and confronted him about his <a href=\"https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/sixers-joel-embiid-shaq-charles-barkley-nba-opener-20241023.html\">Oct. 23 column</a>, taking issue with its mention of Embiid’s late brother and his son. Hayes had <a href=\"https://x.com/inkstainedretch/status/1849196418403066064\">removed</a> the references and replaced a picture in the column after receiving pushback.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">So, I rewrote the lede to my column and replaced the picture. I can see why so many people were upset about it. Sorry about that.<br><br>Thanks for all of the constructive criticism. <a href=\"https://t.co/GE8xIHc22z\">https://t.co/GE8xIHc22z</a></p>— Marcus Hayes (@inkstainedretch) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/inkstainedretch/status/1849196418403066064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 23, 2024</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=\"2bsr1\"><a href=\"https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/42159993/joel-embiid-confronts-shoves-philadelphia-columnist\">According to ESPN</a>, Embiid told Hayes, “The next time you bring up my dead brother and my son again, you are going to see what I’m going to do to you and I’m going to have to … live with the consequences.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4e5p4\">Hayes attempted to apologize to Embiid, according to the Inquirer, but was rebuffed as the confrontation turned physical. The incident lasted about two minutes, during which Embiid allegedly struck Hayes’ neck and collarbone with an open hand and pushed the journalist back, the newspaper reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"fmpu3\">The Sixers’ public relations chief got between Hayes and Embiid, and a team security guard asked other reporters present not to report on the altercation, ESPN reported. Embiid yelled over the guard that the journalists could do whatever they wanted.</p><p data-block-key=\"b0psr\">Hayes told the Inquirer that following the altercation he was taken to meet with Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey and General Manager Elton Brand, who apologized for the incident and asked for Hayes’ version of events.<br/><br/> “They agreed that Embiid’s actions were unacceptable,” Hayes said.</p><p data-block-key=\"667tc\">The NBA said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1852915878884426107\">statement to ESPN</a> that it was aware of reports of the incident and had opened an investigation. On Nov. 5, the organization decided to suspend Embiid for three games, ESPN senior reporter Shams Charania <a href=\"https://x.com/shamscharania/status/1853913338322780245\">reported</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The NBA has suspended Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid for three games for altercation shoving a columnist in a postgame locker room. <a href=\"https://t.co/odkbFwuA0p\">pic.twitter.com/odkbFwuA0p</a></p>— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1853913338322780245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 5, 2024</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=\"2bsr1\">Hayes declined to comment when reached by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"863jc\">In a statement published by the news outlet, Inquirer Editor and Senior Vice President Gabriel Escobar said: “Marcus is an experienced and accomplished columnist who offers sharp and illuminating commentary grounded in his observations. You are free to disagree with what he says, but a physical assault is unwarranted and untenable and we are taking this matter very seriously.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS19GT07.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0cbxj\">Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, in white, during a timeout at a home game in Pennsylvania on Oct. 23, 2024. Following a Nov. 2 game, Embiid shoved Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes in a locker room altercation.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
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"case_number": null,
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"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": "public figure",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Marcus Hayes (The Philadelphia Inquirer)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Miami Herald subpoenaed in connection with airline defamation suit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/miami-herald-subpoenaed-in-connection-with-airline-defamation-suit/",
"first_published_at": "2025-03-07T22:13:16.899730Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-07T22:13:16.899730Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-07T22:09:26.610234Z",
"date": "2024-10-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Fort Lauderdale",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gdadz\">The Miami Herald was subpoenaed on Oct. 31, 2024, in connection with a defamation lawsuit filed in Florida federal court by an airline company. The request was struck down a few weeks later.</p><p data-block-key=\"aq7do\">The company, Monarch Air, had been the subject of an article published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an investigative journalism organization based in the Netherlands.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3rmi\">The lawsuit alleged that the article insinuated Monarch was involved in criminal activity, and that it knowingly left errors online for months after being alerted to falsehoods. Monarch also asserted that reporter Lily Dobrovolskaya, who wrote the article, had initially sought to publish the article with the Herald.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tm\">The October <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000.92.1.pdf\">subpoena</a> requested all communications between the Herald and Dobrovolskaya, the OCCRP and its parent company — the Journalism Development Network — concerning the airline, along with details concerning the Herald’s decision not to publish the article.</p><p data-block-key=\"bnud9\">McClatchy Co., which publishes the Herald, filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000.92.0.pdf\">motion to quash</a> the subpoena Nov. 5, citing Florida’s qualified reporter’s privilege, which protects journalists from disclosing newsgathering materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"j9vl\">The filing argued that there were no allegations that McClatchy or the Herald had a role in the production of the article and therefore no basis for arguing that the requested communications are “highly relevant” to the airline’s claims.</p><p data-block-key=\"83i0m\">“Conjecture or speculation that a fishing expedition into another media organization’s files might turn up something that Plaintiff thinks could be helpful is decidedly insufficient to overcome the privilege,” the motion said.</p><p data-block-key=\"eheph\">Magistrate Judge Jared Strauss sided with McClatchy on Nov. 19, <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000.98.0.pdf\">ruling</a> that — even if Dobrovolskaya had initially pitched the article to the Herald — the airline had speculated without basis on why the newspaper declined to publish it.</p><p data-block-key=\"f013f\">“And speculation does not cut it, particularly when Plaintiff bears a ‘heavy burden’ of satisfying this element by ‘clear and convincing evidence,’” Strauss wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"81p37\">The Herald did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pz7ss\">A portion of the subpoena issued to the Miami Herald on Oct. 31, 2024, by Monarch Air. It was part of its defamation suit against a different news outlet, seeking communications around the newspaper’s decision not to publish an article about the airline.</p>",
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{
"title": "Trump filed or threatened multiple lawsuits against outlets ahead of election",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-filed-or-threatened-multiple-lawsuits-against-outlets-ahead-of-election/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-27T18:53:33.378858Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-27T18:53:33.378858Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-27T18:45:09.261388Z",
"date": "2024-10-31",
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"city": "Palm Beach",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z1xob\">In the week before the 2024 election, attorneys representing Donald Trump pursued legal action against multiple news outlets they alleged were biased against the Republican nominee and had defamed him or attempted to sway the election in favor of his opponent.</p><p data-block-key=\"98jpk\">An attorney in Palm Beach, Florida, sent a letter to The New York Times and Penguin Random House in late October, <a href=\"https://www.cjr.org/the_trump_reader/trump-threatens-new-york-times-penguin-random-house-critical-coverage.php\">according to the Columbia Journalism Review</a>, demanding $10 billion in damages for “false and defamatory statements” about Trump by multiple Times journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"1cc6n\">The letter, reviewed by CJR, pointed to articles by Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner.</p><p data-block-key=\"3iq4b\">“There was a time, long ago, when the New York Times was considered the ‘newspaper of record,’” the letter reportedly said. “Those halcyon days have passed.” CJR added that the letter accused the Times of being “a full-throated mouthpiece of the Democratic Party” that employs “industrial-scale libel against political opponents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dm7nr\">The Times responded to the letter Oct. 31, according to CJR, directing Trump’s attorney to Penguin Random House for claims concerning the book coauthored by Buettner and Craig, and stating that it stands by the reporting of its staff. A spokesperson for the Times declined to comment when reached by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"dcaeq\">That same day, attorneys filed a federal lawsuit on Trump’s behalf <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/politics-and-the-press/#Oct-31-2024-Trump\">against CBS Broadcasting</a>, alleging that the network was attempting to influence the election by favorably editing an interview with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.</p><p data-block-key=\"ccpsi\">In the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Trump charges CBS “doctored” a Harris exchange over U.S. relations with Israel as part of an effort to “confuse, deceive, and mislead the public” about her alleged weaknesses as a candidate.</p><p data-block-key=\"esoab\">Trump had repeatedly disparaged the network since the interview aired Oct. 7, threatening legal action, demanding it<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/politics-and-the-press/#Oct-21-2024-Trump\"> release unedited tapes</a> and transcripts and calling for CBS to be<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/politics-and-the-press/#Oct-10-2024-Trump\"> taken off the air.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"1pg4i\">In an emailed statement to the Tracker, a spokesperson for CBS said: “Former President Trump’s repeated claims against 60 Minutes are false. The Interview was not doctored; and ‘60 Minutes’ did not hide any part of the Vice President’s answer to the question at issue. ‘60 Minutes’ fairly presented the Interview to inform the viewing audience, and not to mislead it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ih2j\">The spokesperson added, “The lawsuit Trump has brought today against CBS is completely without merit and we will vigorously defend against it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b94on\">The suit — in which Trump also sought $10 billion in damages — bases its claims on CBS’ alleged violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Consumer Protection Act, normally meant to protect consumers from being misled by advertisers.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfkab\">But several legal observers dismissed the claim as frivolous. First Amendment expert Floyd Abrams told CNN the First Amendment was drafted to protect the press from such lawsuits, and scholar Geoffrey Stone called it a “misapplication” of the law.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3ici\">“That statute is about sales — a salesperson can be held liable for stating that a product has certain positive effects when he knows it doesn’t,” Stone told CBS News. “But CBS is not engaged in advertising here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4a9c7\">On Nov. 5, Trump’s campaign co-chief Chris LaCivita also issued a letter to The Daily Beast, demanding that it correct articles stating that LaCivita raised $22 million for Trump’s reelection, CJR reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"5qbbs\">In response, the outlet added editor’s notes stating: “Based on a further review of FEC records, the correct total is $19.2m. The Beast regrets the error. The article has also been updated to make clear that payments were to LaCivita’s LLC not to LaCivita personally.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bs85a\">Trump’s campaign found the note insufficient and, according to CJR, said in a follow-up legal letter that it “does not remedy the overall messaging of the story—which depicts Mr. LaCivita as deceptively pocketing campaign money for his own personal gain and that he was and is on the verge of being ‘fired’ because of it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b17r1\">The Beast did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"fadpi\">Trump has sustained his hostile comments toward the press in the wake of the election: During his Nov. 6 victory speech, for instance, he referred to the media as “<a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/trump-media-enemy-camp-speech\">the enemy camp</a>,” and he has continued his <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/113419547333321006\">tirades</a> <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/113516968142292237\">against</a> <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/113547497507469626\">journalists</a> on social media.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ye6b3\">President-elect Donald Trump gives a victory speech to his supporters at a rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6, 2024. During his address, he referred to the media as “the enemy camp.”</p>",
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"name": "Florida",
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"tags": [
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Peter Baker (The New York Times)",
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"Russ Buettner (The New York Times)"
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{
"title": "New York, Ohio candidates accuse news outlets of election interference",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-ohio-candidates-accuse-news-outlets-of-election-interference/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-06T17:38:20.370317Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-06T17:38:20.370317Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-06T17:38:20.262205Z",
"date": "2024-10-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Multiple",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2ovx0\">Candidates running in the 2024 elections in New York and Ohio accused news outlets of election interference in separate incidents in late October.</p><p data-block-key=\"4n077\">Rep. Elise Stefanik, in a <a href=\"https://x.com/EliseStefanik/status/1851681209622962670\">post on the social media platform X</a>, accused North Country Public Radio of “election interference” on Oct. 30, after one of its journalists posted an inaccurate report on X about the location in upstate New York where Stefanik voted early.</p><p data-block-key=\"dkq61\">Stefanik, a Republican, included a screenshot of NCPR reporter Emily Russell’s post stating that the New York representative had cast her early ballot in the state’s 20th District, even though she is running for reelection in the 21st District.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ihtq\">Stefanik noted that the location where she cast her ballot was open to all voters in Saratoga County, and alleged that NCPR “sent out false information and spread misinformation about early voting locations in my district to suppress the vote.”</p><p data-block-key=\"23ut8\">Stefanik added, “We have received calls into our office of confused voters due to this desperate election interference by an NPR affiliate.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9j4vq\">Stefanik also vowed, “And I will DEFUND NPR!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨🚨ELECTION INTERFERENCE BY NY NPR AFFILIATE <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ncpr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ncpr</a> 🚨🚨 <br><br>The disgraced New York NPR affiliate <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ncpr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ncpr</a> just sent out false information and spread misinformation about early voting locations targeting voters in my district to suppress the vote. This is blatant and illegal election… <a href=\"https://t.co/JM6pFyHDJE\">pic.twitter.com/JM6pFyHDJE</a></p>— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik/status/1851681209622962670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 30, 2024</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=\"2ovx0\">NPR is <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/about-npr/178660742/public-radio-finances\">partly funded</a> by the federal government through grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Republican legislators have <a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-senator-eyes-legislation-defund-propagandist-npr-suspension-whistleblower\">previously threatened</a> to introduce legislation to cut the broadcaster’s funding due to what they described as its left-wing bias.</p><p data-block-key=\"c796h\">Russell later that day deleted the post due to what she <a href=\"https://x.com/EmilyRussellADK/status/1851677952439685352\">called</a> “a misunderstanding about the details of a polling location,” adding, “I apologize for the error.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dh4oa\">Stefanik and NCPR did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3pjo\">In the Ohio incident, Dawn Zinni, a candidate for recorder in Trumbull County, sued reporter David Skolnick and the Tribune Chronicle on Oct. 31, alleging that “The Tribune is a liberal Democrat publication that, with malicious intent, publicizes conservative Trump supporters like Zinni in a ‘false light,’” according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"28nic\">The lawsuit described Zinni as “a Republican, a devout Christian, and a supporter of Donald J. Trump.” It accused Skolnick of “biased, discriminatory, and unbalanced” reporting on business-related lawsuits that Zinni faced, of failing to cover similar litigation faced by incumbent male Democratic officials and of openly criticizing Zinni’s Christian faith.</p><p data-block-key=\"50q9n\">The suit seeks $1 million in punitive damages and $25,000 in compensatory damages.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tad6\">Zinni’s attorney, Sean Logue, and the Tribune Chronicle did not reply to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tacqn\">Rep. Elise Stefanik speaks at an Oct. 27, 2024, rally for Donald Trump in New York City. Three days later, Stefanik accused an upstate New York NPR affiliate of election interference and threatened to defund the broadcaster.</p>",
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