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.

  
A Mexican official pictured at the bridge connecting Tijuana and San Diego, in April 2018. The Department of Homeland Security is investigating the policies of Customs and Border Protection after documents appeared to show that the agency targeted journalists. (Reuters/Mike Blake)

What we need to know about CBP’s searches of journalists at San Diego

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is investigating whether the Customs and Border Protection Agency inappropriately targeted and questioned journalists and activists. The investigation, announced by CBP on March 6, came after NBC 7 obtained documents showing that the border agency compiled a list of individuals, including at least 10 journalists, for additional screening.

Read More ›

CPJ and others request meeting with Sacramento police over treatment of journalists at protest

In a letter to Sacramento police chief Daniel Hahn, CPJ and several other rights organizations express concern about police conduct toward journalists covering protests on March 4, and request a meeting.

Read More ›

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the media after a closed briefing for senators in November 2018, on developments related to the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A joint letter calls for congressional action in the pursuit of justice. (Reuters/Joshua Roberts)

Joint letter urges congressional action on Jamal Khashoggi case

The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined 10 human rights and press freedom groups in sending a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) leadership urging congressional action in the pursuit of justice for murdered Washington Post columnist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi.

Read More ›

CPJ calls on US Customs and Border Protection agency to reschedule meeting

CPJ calls on Andrew Meehan, Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs, to reschedule the meeting as soon as possible on the treatment of journalists at U.S. borders

Read More ›

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers are seen in Los Angeles, California, on January 28, 2017. Today, CBP canceled a meeting with CPJ and other press freedom groups. (Patrick T. Fallon/Reuters)

US border agency cancels meeting with press freedom groups

Washington, D.C., March 8, 2019 — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today canceled a meeting with a coalition of press freedom groups–including the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the ACOS Alliance–one day after it postponed the long-scheduled meeting and two days after NBC…

Read More ›

The Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C. The aggressive pursuit of people suspected of leaking information to the press is having an impact on reporting, national security journalists say. (Reuters/Yuri Gripas)

Leak prosecutions under Trump chill national security beat

When President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William Barr, was asked at his confirmation hearing in January whether he would ever consider jailing a journalist, Barr paused for about eight seconds, then said he could “conceive of a situation” where a journalist is jailed as a “last resort.” Such equivocation was troubling to press…

Read More ›

A Penn State news conference in 2014. A sports journalist who helped break the story about convicted Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky says she abandoned Twitter because of threatening messages. (AP/Matt Rourke)

Dark side of sports journalism as fans harass female reporters online

“I say we put her email address in all the porn sites. From FSU with love,” one user wrote on 247Sports.com, a CBS message-board about college and professional sports. The FSU stands for Florida State University and the “her” is ESPN investigative journalist Paula Lavigne.

Read More ›

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump at dinner in Hanoi on February 27. The White House blocked four journalists from covering the event. (AFP/Saul Loeb)

White House setting wrong example at Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi

Washington, D.C., February 27, 2019–The White House today barred four journalists from covering a dinner in Hanoi between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, citing “sensitivities over shouted questions,” according to news reports. The unusual move came a day after Vietnamese officials relocated the White House press corps filing center from…

Read More ›

A man is restrained after he began shoving members of the media during a rally for President Donald Trump at the El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso, Texas, on February 11, 2019. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

CPJ concerned about journalists’ safety at Trump’s rallies

New York, February 12, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern about the safety of journalists covering President Donald Trump’s political rallies after a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) camera operator, Ron Skeans, was assaulted during a rally in El Paso, Texas, last night.

Read More ›

Pedestrians wait to cross into the U.S. at the Otay Mesa port of entry with Mexico in San Diego, California. Several journalists say CBP agents questioned them about their reporting on a migrant caravan as they crossed into Mexico. (Reuters/Jorge Duenes)

Several journalists say US border agents questioned them about migrant coverage

New York, February 11, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is harassing journalists or subjecting them to invasive questioning during secondary screening when they cross into the United States.

Read More ›