USA / Americas

For data on press freedom violations in the U.S., visit the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a partnership between CPJ and Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Read CPJ’s report On Edge: What the US election could mean for journalists and global press freedom.

  

CPJ board demands U.S. local authorities halt assaults on journalists

CPJ’s board of directors writes to U.S. governors, mayors, and police chiefs, demanding they take immediate action to stop assaults on journalists who are lawfully covering protests in their communities.

Read More ›

Canadian journalist Anna Slatz arrested in New York City, still in custody

Washington D.C. June 3, 2020—Canadian journalist Anna Slatz, reporter for the independent news website Rebel News, remains in New York custody since being arrested yesterday evening while covering protests, Eitan Gillboord, vice president of operations at Rebel News told CPJ this afternoon. “We call on New York authorities to quickly release Anna Slatz without charges….

Read More ›

At least 125 press freedom violations reported over 3 days of U.S. protests

Washington D.C., June 1, 2020– Local and state authorities in the U.S. must stop targeting journalists and media workers covering protests and ensure that the press is exempt from any curfew restrictions, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. “We are horrified by the continued use of harsh and sometimes violent actions of police against…

Read More ›

US protests safety advisory

CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering U.S. protests over police violence

Updated August 26, 2020 There have been hundreds of reported incidents of violence and harassment, as well as arrests, targeting journalists covering ongoing Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S. sparked by the death on May 25, 2020—in police custody—of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota. These incidents have been documented by CPJ…

Read More ›

CPJ condemns targeting of journalists covering protests across the U.S.

New York, May 30, 2020 — In response to reports of attacks against journalists in recent days by police and protesters while covering demonstrations across the U.S., the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Targeted attacks on journalists, media crews, and news organizations covering the demonstrations show a complete disregard for their critical…

Read More ›

CNN team arrested while covering Minneapolis protests

Washington, D.C., May 29, 2020 — Minnesota police officers today arrested a CNN crew covering protests in Minneapolis while they were live on air, according to video from the broadcaster. In the footage, correspondent Omar Jimenez can be seen holding his press badge and crew members are heard identifying themselves as journalists and offering to…

Read More ›

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump hold signs during a rally to call for the reopening of California's economy after the lockdown closure, implemented to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, in Woodland Hills, California, on May 16, 2020. NY Times reporter Davey Alba recently told CPJ about her experiences covering coronavirus conspiracy theories and facing online harassment. (AFP/Mark Ralston)

NY Times reporter Davey Alba on covering COVID-19 conspiracy theories, facing online harassment

Over the course of Davey Alba’s career as a tech reporter, her beat has transformed from covering the latest gadgets and phones to investigating the creeping influence and massive power wielded by tech companies over peoples’ everyday lives. As the coronavirus pandemic has spread across the globe, Alba, who covers tech and disinformation at The…

Read More ›

Protesters are seen in front of the Department of Justice in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 29, 2019. The department recently subpoenaed Facebook for information from student news outlets on the island. (Angel Valentin/Getty Images via AFP)

Puerto Rico authorities subpoena Facebook for information from student media outlets

On September 27, 2019, Denis Márquez, a member of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives, told the staff of Pulso Estudiantil, a student-run newspaper based at the University of Puerto Rico, that the island’s Justice Department had acquired information from the paper’s Facebook account, as well as from Diálogo UPR and the Center for Student Communication,…

Read More ›

A 3D-printed WhatsApp logo is seen in front of displayed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) sign in this illustration taken March 19, 2020. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

First Draft’s Aimee Rinehart on fact-checking coronavirus misinformation

While digital communication enables the public to receive critical information about the COVID-19 pandemic in real time, the same tools are enabling an “infodemic” of misinformation that “can hamper an effective public health response and create confusion and distrust,” according to the United Nations.

Read More ›

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security officer checks passports in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 15, 2020. The department recently imposed new restrictions on Chinese nationals working as journalists in the United States. (Reuters/Teresa Barbieri)

U.S. imposes new visa restrictions on Chinese journalists in retaliatory measure

Washington, D.C., May 11, 2020 — In response to new visa restrictions imposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security against Chinese nationals working as journalists in the United States, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:

Read More ›