Saturday, August 12, 2017

Amid Trump's Chilling War on Media, Press Freedom Groups Expose Threats to US Journalists

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/02/amid-trumps-chilling-war-media-press-freedom-groups-expose-threats-us-journalists
"The Committee to Protect Journalists and the Freedom of the Press Foundation are among more than 20 groups partnering to introduce a new website which tracks threats to press freedom in the United States. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker launched Wednesday to gather data on arrests of journalists, physical attacks on reporters, equipment searches and seizures, prosecutions of the legal spreading of information (recently denounced as "leaks" by the Trump administration), and other threats to the free press. So far in 2017, the site has tracked 19 arrests of journalists; 12 equipment searches and seizures; 11 physical attacks; and four cases of journalists who were detained, questioned, or denied entry at borders. "With the Trump administration ramping up its war on journalism, this initiative could not come at a more important time," Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said. "We hope it will be vital to highlighting the threats to press freedom in the U.S. and the important work journalists do to hold the government accountable." In an interview with ABC News, the new website's managing editor, Peter Sterne, noted that American concerns over press freedom have historically been focused on other countries. "The U.S. is often seen as a beacon of press freedom in the world," he said. "When freedom of the press in the U.S. is weakened, that has an effect around the world where other countries feel more emboldened to crack down on their own journalists"."