From LA to Chicago, press arrests were used to silence protest coverage across the country in 2025. Each arrest signaled a shift in how authorities police information and those who gather it. Read @pressfreedomtracker.us's new report by @stephaniesugars.bsky.social:

Does anyone want a survivorship bias shortbread

If you are a journalist — or know one — who has been attacked, seriously threatened, denied access by a public official or targeted with a legal order in the course of reporting, let us know. You can now submit tips in English or Spanish. Email: tips@pressfreedomtracker.us

Trump's anti-press rhetoric is "not bluster; it is not a personality trait. It is deliberate," @stephaniesugars.bsky.social told @di-sly.bsky.social. "It is very much at the cost of the strength of our social fabric and our shared reality."

The LAPD lived up to its atrocious press freedom record by beating, detaining, and jailing journalists covering a protest last week. Journalists must cover these First Amendment violations, and the public must speak out against them.

If you're a journalist who has experienced an arrest, assault or other aggression, @pressfreedomtracker.us can document your experience anonymously. Contact me through Signal at ssugars.01.

If you're a journalist who has experienced an arrest, assault or other aggression, @pressfreedomtracker.us can document your experience anonymously. Contact me through Signal at ssugars.01.

Thanks to everyone who tuned into our conversation about the demise of one of America’s oldest Indigenous newspapers, and a special thanks to our panelists: @isaacwhitereporter.bsky.social, Marjorie Skidders, @seth-stern.bsky.social, and @stephaniesugars.bsky.social. Miss it? Watch it below ⬇️

🔔 Join us tomorrow for a conversation about the demise of one of America’s oldest Indigenous newspapers, featuring @isaacwhitereporter.bsky.social, Marjorie Skidders, @seth-stern.bsky.social, and @stephaniesugars.bsky.social. 🕒 Noon EDT/9 a.m. PDT RSVP: freedom.press/end-of-india...

While journalists face threats covering national protests spurred by Trump’s immigration policy, the president has persisted in online attacks on the media. This and more in our Tracker newsletter from Managing Editor @kamccudden.bsky.social and Senior Reporter @stephaniesugars.bsky.social:

Today marks 10 years since Trump's escalator descent, and the start of my dataset of his anti-press social posts. The collection of 3,500 entries and growing provides a stark reminder that the rhetoric our leaders use matters and that it's vital to keep watch. My latest for @pressfreedomtracker.us:

1/ Now a week into California protests in response to immigration raids, here’s what we’re working on documenting at the Tracker — At least 50 incidents of violence or other types of aggressions against journalists, mostly by law enforcement, and some targeting of news cars, mostly by individuals:

Trump "is consolidating narrative power and asserting that he is the ultimate, if not singular, conveyor of what is actually true, which, to no one’s surprise, is what is most favorable to him," @pressfreedomtracker.us's @stephaniesugars.bsky.social tells @liamjscott.bsky.social.

Monday marks 10 years since Trump's escalator descent, and the start of my dataset of his anti-press social posts. Nearly 3,500 entries and growing, it provides not just a historical archive but also an urgent warning: The rhetoric our leaders use matters. My latest for @pressfreedomtracker.us:

Southlander cofounder and journalist @bencamach0.bsky.social was shot twice — in the knee and elbow — with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in the LA suburbs of Compton and Paramount June 7: pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incident...

Hey, journalists covering LA protests — In light of multiple attacks against reporters, find here in this thread resources to help you prepare yourself for covering protests, protecting yourself in the field, and getting the help you need. Share and bookmark.

UPDATE: Nick is in good spirits and recovering in hospital. The doctor told me the injury was so bad that they treated it as if it were a gunshot wound. Part of a stun grenade traveled deep into the tissue and was only visible by a cat scan. He sends his love and appreciation for all the support.

Just 100 days into Trump’s second term, he and his allies have launched a multipronged campaign against journalists, media organizations and their sources, pushing a narrative that questions the legitimacy of critical reporting and seeks to suppress dissenting voices. Read my latest:

Trump’s shunning of newsrooms is part of a playbook designed to test the limits of the First Amendment. We spoke to former White House correspondent @briankarem.bsky.social and U.S. Press Tracker Senior Reporter @stephaniesugars.bsky.social to learn more.

Join us for an urgent discussion on the AP ban, White House press pool, and other attacks on the press by the Trump administration, featuring @briankarem.bsky.social, @stephaniesugars.bsky.social, and @caitlinvogus.bsky.social. 🗓️ April 16, 2pm ET/11am PT freedom.press/access-denied

Make sure you’re inviting the right person to your Signal group! To help confirm someone’s identity and keep track of your contacts, @signal.org offers nicknames and information about the groups you share in common with your contacts. Learn about Signal’s identifiers:

"On Saturday... VOA’s final broadcast went out; its website was updated one last time. For the first time since its creation, in 1942, to combat Nazi propaganda, VOA went silent." - insights from @liamjscott.bsky.social

Wow: City of Clarksdale, Mississippi got a court order yesterday directing a newspaper to delete an editorial criticizing city officials -- without a hearing. Here's the TRO issuing the prior restraint:

Effective and creative data visualization in the form of a full page piece in the WaPo today to show how Trump/Musk are dismantling government.

Check out this First Amendment Watch interview with @pressfreedomtracker.us' Senior Reporter @stephaniesugars.bsky.social about the Tracker's annual arrest report and threats journalists faced in 2024.

Just going to reiterate - We are on this bot problem. We shall fight them on the beaches. We shall fight them in the signup process, we shall fight them in the notifications

Four years on from the insurrection at the Capitol, and we've never stopped tracking justice for the 18 journalists assaulted in DC on Jan. 6, 2021. It's all kept here by @uspresstracker.bsky.social : pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/charges...

Israel invaded Syria and destroyed most of its military capabilities within 48 hours of Assad regime's fall — my latest @theguardian.com

The effects are going to be felt especially harshly by journalists in small towns and rural areas, where brazen local officials and looser protections conspire to hamper and criminalize routine journalism. For example, look at what happened in Atmore, Alabama, and Marion County, Kansas, last year.

📽️ WATCH: Our Senior Reporter @stephaniesugars.bsky.social breaks down the Tracker’s annual report on journalists’ arrests in the U.S. in 2024: - 48 arrests or detentions of journalists - Nearly 90% took place around Israel-Gaza war protests - 23 were at the hands of NYPD

This year was decidedly a "protest year" and saw a surge in arrests and detentions of journalists. The @pressfreedomtracker.us covered 48 such cases in 2024 — more than the previous two years combined — making it the third-highest count since we began cataloging in 2017 (1st: 2020, 2nd: 2021).

Join @pressfreedomtracker.us on Reddit today at 12:30 p.m. ET for an AMA with Senior Reporter @stephaniesugars.bsky.social and Managing Editor @kamccudden.bsky.social. Ask us about our annual arrest report and threats to press freedom journalists faced this year. www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comme...

The team! @freedom.press

be very aware of what signal does and does not promise in privacy read the docs but i can assure you (a) the most paranoid geeks review everything signal does and it stands up (b) ordinary journalists can use it in confidence and it's really very usable

We’ve been here before, and we’ve fought back before. Don’t let Trump jail journalists and trample the First Amendment.