Trip comes amid concern about climate for media in US
Washington, D.C., January 10, 2018–CPJ and IFEX will lead a delegation of global press freedom groups on an unprecedented mission to the United States, reflecting concerns about threats to journalists and heightened anti-press rhetoric. The mission will coincide with the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration and will leverage the first year’s findings of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, which will be released at an event at the Newseum.
From January 15 to 17, leaders of six organizations–CPJ, IFEX, Reporters Without Borders, Article 19, Index on Censorship, and International Press Institute–will conduct a fact-finding visit to Houston, Texas, and the Missouri cities of Columbia and St. Louis. They will then travel to Washington for the Assessment of Press Freedom event at the Newseum on Wednesday, January 17, at 7:00 p.m. EST, and meetings with high-level policymakers on January 18 and 19.
The Press Freedom Tracker website collects data on the arrests of journalists, the seizure of their equipment, physical attacks, border stops, and other incidents.
CPJ routinely leads missions to countries of concern for press freedom, such as recent trips to Mexico and Ukraine. CPJ and partner organizations hope the mission will help bring attention to the deterioration of press freedom in the U.S. and show solidarity with the journalist community.
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CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.
Note to Editors:
Please contact press@cpj.org to organize interviews with any of the mission participants or to obtain press credentials for the January 17 Newseum event, which will be livestreamed at 7:00 p.m. EST at www.newseum.org/live.
Media contacts:
Bebe Santa-Wood
Communications Associate
press@cpj.org
212-300-9032