FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened to revoke Comcast’s broadcast license over NBC’s news coverage, tied merger approvals to pro-Trump settlements, and backed regulatory rules designed to boost conservative media outlets. Carr’s actions represent unprecedented weaponization of …
CBS News appointed Kenneth Weinstein, a former Trump ambassador nominee and Hudson Institute conservative, as the network’s ombudsman following the Paramount-Skydance merger. The appointment came after Trump’s Justice Department and FCC applied regulatory pressure to the merger, and …
Nexstar Media Group announces $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna, creating broadcasting giant reaching 80% of US TV households. Deal represents mass…
Skydance’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global closed after FCC approval with controversial conditions. The merger included commitments to hire a CBS ombudsman and explicit agreements about media representation, reflecting ongoing tensions in media regulation and political influence.
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on July 11, 2025, prohibiting LAPD from using less-lethal munitions, rubber bullets, and chemical agents against clearly identified journalists covering protests in Los Angeles. The order also bars police from forcibly removing journalists from …
Through companion rescission package to budget reconciliation, Congress eliminated $1.1 billion in federal funding for NPR and PBS, removing independent news sources. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez stated “This isn’t about saving money. It’s about silencing those who report the news …
Law enforcement shot over 20 journalists with rubber bullets and pepper balls during June 6-9 immigration protests in Los Angeles amid 2,000 National Guard deployment. Nick Stern required emergency surgery from plastic bullet; Lauren Tomasi shot on live TV; Toby Canham struck in forehead. Reporters …
On April 15, 2025, days after a federal court ordered the White House to restore Associated Press access, the Trump administration restructured the presidential press pool and eliminated the permanent wire-service position. This unprecedented move wrested control of press pool composition from the …
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented on April 15, 2025, how the White House wrested control of the presidential press pool from journalists, eliminating the permanent wire service position days after a court ordered restoration of AP access. This unprecedented move allows the administration to …
A federal judge on April 8, 2025, ordered the White House to restore Associated Press access to cover presidential events, finding that the administration’s February ban constituted viewpoint-based discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. The ruling came after AP was barred from …
The White House blocked AP reporters from pooled access on Feb. 11 amid a naming dispute over the Gulf of Mexico (“Gulf of America”), with administration stating it has the right to punish AP reporters. On Apr. 8, a federal district court ordered access restored, finding viewpoint …
The Department of Justice implements a new national security data security program that potentially allows for increased surveillance of journalists. Under the program, DOJ creates mechanisms to access bulk data that could be used to track reporters, particularly those investigating administration …
On December 22, 2020, the DOJ filed a secret court order to seize phone records of three Washington Post journalists (Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, and Adam Entous) investigating Russian diplomatic communications. Filed just one day before Attorney General William Barr’s resignation by DOJ …
A U.S. grand jury added 17 counts under the Espionage Act to the federal indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, marking the first time in American history that the government used the 1917 anti-spying law to prosecute a publisher for receiving and publishing truthful classified …
On May 15, 2017, award-winning Mexican journalist Javier Valdez Cárdenas, co-founder of the investigative outlet Río Doce and renowned for reporting on drug trafficking and organized crime in Sinaloa, is assassinated in broad daylight in Culiacán. Just two days later, on May 17, two of his …
Citizen Lab publishes “Reckless Exploit,” documenting that at least 22 members of Mexican civil society were targeted with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware between 2015-2017, including lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders, politicians, anti-corruption advocates, and public …
Former Air Force veteran and NSA contractor Reality Leigh Winner was arrested for leaking a classified intelligence report documenting Russian cyberattacks on U.S. election infrastructure. Her case would result in the longest prison sentence ever imposed for an unauthorized release of government …
The Trump Justice Department initiated a systematic surveillance operation targeting Washington Post journalists Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, and Adam Entous between April 15 and July 31, 2017. The operation was part of an aggressive effort to identify sources and suppress national security …
The Obama administration prosecuted eight individuals under the Espionage Act for leaking to media, more than all previous administrations combined which had only three cases total since 1917. Those prosecuted included Thomas Drake (NSA) whose 10 felony charges were reduced to a misdemeanor after …
Former CIA officer Jeffrey Alexander Sterling was indicted on espionage charges for allegedly revealing details about Operation Merlin—a botched covert operation to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program—to New York Times journalist James Risen. The case became a flashpoint in the conflict between …
Former NSA senior executive Thomas Drake was indicted on ten felony counts, including five under the Espionage Act of 1917, marking the Obama administration’s aggressive prosecution of national security whistleblowers. Drake faced up to 35 years in prison for allegedly retaining classified …
James Risen and Eric Lichtblau published a groundbreaking front-page New York Times article revealing the NSA had been conducting warrantless surveillance of Americans since 2001 under President Bush’s secret authorization. The story exposed that the NSA, traditionally focused on foreign …
Putin’s government arrested Vladimir Gusinsky, owner of Media-Most and Russia’s largest independent television network, on alleged fraud charges. The arrest was widely seen as a politically motivated attempt to silence critical media, marking an early example of Putin’s systematic …