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 the Biden administration and the press.

  
CPJ Advocacy and Communications Manager Kerry Paterson, third from left, joins a side panel on journalist safety and impunity at the UN in New York. (Article 19)

CPJ joins UN discussion on journalist safety and impunity

The Committee to Protect Journalists and other rights groups, including Article 19, today took part in a side panel at the U.N. in New York, on journalist safety and impunity.

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People hold signs saying 'Impunity kills' during a 2013 memorial in Kiev for murdered Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze. The US decision to withdraw from UNESCO will make the world less safe for journalists. (AFP/Sergei Supinsky)

US withdrawal from UNESCO is blow for press freedom

The U.S. government’s decision to withdraw from the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which has a mandate to promote “the free flow of ideas by word and image [and] to foster free, independent, and pluralistic media in print, broadcast and online,” will make the world less safe for journalists, a joint statement…

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Greg Gianforte. right, with Paul Ryan, before his swearing in ceremony in June. CPJ met with the congressman to discuss press freedom issues on October 5. (Pete Marovich/Getty Images/AFP)

CPJ meeting with Gianforte is disappointingly brief

When Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte agreed to donate $50,000 to CPJ as part of his settlement with Guardian journalist Ben Jacobs, whom he body slammed during a congressional race in May, I reached out to set up a meeting to see if Gianforte was serious about his hope that “some good can come of [the]…

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CPJ urges Congressman Greg Gianforte to champion the protection of journalists in the U.S. and around the world

The Committee to Protect Journalists writes to U.S. Congressman Greg Gianforte (R-MT) urging him to champion the protection of journalists and press freedom in the U.S. and around the world.

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A timeline on the wall at the La Estrella de Panamá office highlights important dates in the newspaper's history.(CPJ/Natalie Southwick)

US Treasury Department decision risks future of two Panama newspapers

La Estrella de Panamá has kept Panama’s citizens informed since 1849. Now, as the country prepares for elections next year, the existence of the major newspaper, along with that of its sister title, El Siglo, may depend on the U.S. Treasury Department.

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U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks to reporters in Washington, D.C., August 4, 2017. (AFP/Alex Wong)

Trump administration says it is pursuing 3 times as many leak investigations as predecessor

New York, August 4, 2017–Relaxing U.S. government guidelines to make it easier for investigators to subpoena journalists and their records would have a chilling effect on press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a news conference today that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is pursuing three times…

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Reality Winner, center, an intelligence contractor charged with leaking classified National Security Agency material, is shown in a courtroom sketch at a hearing in Augusta, Georgia, on June 8, 2017. A group of Senate Republicans claim that leaks to the media under the Trump Administration are harming national security. (Reuters/Richard Miller)

US Senate report on leaks and national security is deeply flawed

Last week, Republicans on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs released a report on leaks to the media. The report, which was led by Chairman Ron Johnson, asserts that “an avalanche” of leaks under the Trump Administration is harming national security. It lists at least 125 news articles and their bylines -…

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Sen. Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, center, speaks to journalists in Washington, D.C. on June 27. He released a report claiming that media leaks under the Trump Administration harm U.S. national security. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Republicans on Senate committee assert media leaks harm US national security

New York, July 6, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a report released today by a group of Senate Republicans arguing that “an avalanche” of media leaks under the Trump Administration is harming national security. The report, which lists at least 125 news articles that allegedly harmed national security and their bylines, was…

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Congressman Greg Gianforte appears in court to face a charge of misdemeanor assault over an attack on Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs in Montana in June. (Reuters/Tommy Martino)

CPJ to use $50,000 Gianforte donated as part of body slam settlement to track other assaults on press

When the news came that Greg Gianforte was making a $50,000 donation to the Committee to Protect Journalists it was 10 p.m. on the East Coast, but 8:30 a.m. in Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s Disney-like capital city, where members of our CPJ team were meeting officials to discuss that country’s punitive press laws.

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US congressional candidate in Montana charged with assaulting reporter

May 25, 2017 — The alleged assault of Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs by a candidate competing in today’s special congressional election in Montana sends an unacceptable signal that physical assault is an appropriate response to unwanted questioning by a journalist, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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