Entering Trump 2.0 after uptick in attacks on press last year

Friends of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker:

Welcome back to your newsletter around press freedom violations in the United States. Find archived editions here, and get this newsletter directly in your inbox by signing up here.

Press freedom violations and election cycles

Since the Tracker’s inception, we’ve steadily documented protests around presidential elections and inaugurations. In 2017, millions marched across the nation against President Donald Trump’s first term, and journalists were there to cover it — sometimes arrested, assaulted or banned from events. In 2020, election-related protests began well before the election in an already tumultuous period for the nation, and went through Jan. 6, 2021, when nearly 20 journalists were assaulted at the Capitol and beyond.

This time, while we documented a handful of 2024 election incidents, most were at protests in the months ahead of the election. From Nov. 4, 2024, through Inauguration Day, we tracked only one — a record low.

That one was on Jan. 18, when freelance photojournalist Matthew Kaplan was arrested while covering an anti-deportation protest at the Gary/Chicago International Airport in Indiana. The airport, used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation flights, has been the site of protests since 2017. These Jan. 18 protesters were similarly gathered against the large-scale deportations planned by Trump’s administration — which did, in fact, begin almost immediately.

Look to the western sky

We’re all watching the flurry of executive orders from the White House that began Jan. 20, including pardoning Jan. 6 rioters who, among other offenses, attacked journalists. But we’re also keeping an eye on the state level, where lawmakers and the reporters who cover them dove into new legislative sessions this month.

In Topeka, Kansas, reporters found out just three days before the 2025 session began that their access was drastically reduced. Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins banned journalists from reporting from the floor of the chamber and instead moved them to a gallery above the back of the chamber.

By eliminating press box access, Hawkins overturned a long-standing practice that gave reporters access to the chamber floor and the elected representatives working there. It mirrors changes the Kansas Senate made in 2022, when it also barred journalists from the chamber floor, citing space concerns.

For years now, we’ve been tracking similar rule changes across U.S. statehouses limiting press access. In 2022, Iowa and Utah reduced press access to their chamber floors, and in 2023, the Texas Senate and the New York State Assembly extended pandemic-era rules to keep reporters from the floor.

Other notable updates and incidents

Nearly nine months after her arrest while covering a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Oregon University, trespassing charges against independent journalist Alissa Azar were dropped on Jan. 23. Azar told the Tracker that she was relieved that the case had ended, but that months of fighting the charges had been “profoundly humiliating, grossly invasive, and infuriating.”

On Dec. 18, as 2024 was nearing its close, Colorado reporter Ja’Ronn Alex was followed in his news vehicle, verbally assaulted and then choked as he tried to return to his news station for safety. His fellow station members intervened and held down the attacker until police arrived; Alex told authorities the man had yelled, “This is Trump’s America now.” Area residents have rallied in support of Alex outside court proceedings for the man arrested in his attack; the next hearing for the alleged assailant is Feb. 11.