Analysis

Original analyses on press freedom trends and monthly incident roundups written by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker staff with features on First Amendment issues published by our partner organizations.

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Protecting journalism, without federal police reforms

People take part in a candlelight vigil on the fifth anniversary of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Earlier that week, the Department of Justice announced it was dropping federal oversight programs for police reform in the state.

Published

May 30, 2025

Written by

Kirstin McCudden
Trump, allies pursue multipronged campaign against the press

Published

May 23, 2025

Written by

Stephanie Sugars
In 100 days, a laundry list of attacks on the media

From limiting media access to investigating journalists, the Trump administration’s first 100 days have targeted the media on multiple fronts

Published

April 30, 2025

Written by

Kirstin McCudden

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‘A measure of justice’ for slain reporter

‘A measure of justice’ for a slain reporter, more charges against Capitol rioters for assaulting a journalist, and a remarkable milestone

Published

September 30, 2024

Written by

Kirstin McCudden
Journalists arrested while covering DNC

Published

August 23, 2024

Written by

Kirstin McCudden
After delays, trial for suspect in journalist’s murder set to begin

A preview of a slain reporter Jeff German’s murder trial, ongoing Israel-Gaza war protests plus an ‘impressive milestone’ as the Tracker database reaches 7 years since going live

Published

August 1, 2024

Written by

Kirstin McCudden
Journalists were targeted, repeatedly attacked for documenting LA protests

Published

July 25, 2024

Written by

Stephanie Sugars
The cynicism of blaming the media for the Trump assassination attempt

Some of the critics in the aftermath of the Trump assassination seemed to be accusing journalists of being both overly reckless and, at least in their coverage of the shooting’s immediate aftermath, overly cautious.

Published

July 15, 2024

Written by

Jon Allsop
Assaults of journalists already surpassing last year’s total

The number of journalists assaulted that we’ve documented or are actively reporting on will surpass the total number of assaults from all of last year — and the year is only half over.

Published

June 28, 2024

Written by

Kirstin McCudden
Arrests of journalists already doubled over last year

As of this month, more journalists have now been arrested in 2024 than the last two years combined. Plus, four years after George Floyd’s death — and what it meant for media covering BLM.

Published

May 30, 2024

Written by

Kirstin McCudden
BLM and unprecedented aggressions against media

May 25, 2024

We're documenting assaults, arrests of journalists covering the Black Lives Matter movement and media whose coverage has been subjected to legal orders, like subpoenas.