Real life consequences of the intense five year battle against freedom of the press in America beginning in 2015 has been buried by corporate media interests across the north, east, west and south of the country. Most of the citizenry have been paying little or no attention to the battles, to the ever expanding war on press freedom.
This tragic scenario for our democracy makes even more important the new report by Freedom Of The Press Foundation; U.S. Press Freedom In Crisis: Journalists Under Arrest in 2020.
A few highlights from this must-read report:
- In 2020, there was a ~1200% increase in the number of
arrests of journalists, compared with 2019.
- Law enforcement officers arrested at least one journalist
in 40 different cities across the U.S
- Over 1000 press freedom violations — arrests, physical
attacks, subpoenas, border stops, denials of access, and
others — were reported to the U.S Press Freedom Tracker
in 2020. In all of 2019, the Tracker recorded 152.
Voices from the frontlines:
- “I’m just doing my job as a journalist. I’m just out here reporting as I see.”
Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri, May 31.
- “I don’t have training in hostile environment situations. This makes me feel very
vulnerable. But I believe in this job so much and I want to do this to give people
voices.” Freelancer Christopher Rusanowsky.
- “My editor is yelling at me because my hand was in front of the camera. Well, yeah,
because I was arrested.” Christine MacDonald, Detroit News, livestreaming her May 31 arrest.
- “I went to urgent care this morning after release – just a light concussion, fractured
knee cap and mild chemical burns on my arms from the mace. Which means! I can
probably go back out again tonight if I rest up today!” Grace Morgan, independent journalist, Portland, in a July 27 tweet.
Read a brief summary here – the full report here (PDF – Recommended)
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children” First Nations proverb.
