Press Organizations Launch U.S. Press Freedom Tracker

Tracker

A consortium of press organizations including the RADIO TELEVISION DIGITAL NEWS ASSOCIATION and its VOICE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT TASK FORCE, the SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS, and several others led by the FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION and funded by the COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS have launched a new nonpartisan website to track abuses of press freedom in the UNITED STATES.  The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is at pressfreedomtracker.us and will cover what the organizations term as increasing hostility towards a free press, citing several incidents including the assault of a reporter by a Congressional candidate, 19 arrests of journalists in the course of their work since the beginning of 2017, and other acts against reporters.

“Despite the fact our nation has among the strongest legal protections for journalists and news organizations anywhere the world, this is a daunting time to be a reporter or photojournalist in the U.S. We cannot take for granted our Constitutionally-guaranteed duty to gather and report facts to the public in a responsible way,” said RTDNA Incoming Executive Director DAN SHELLEY. “It is our hope that by documenting obstruction, acts of aggression, and unfounded arrests targeting journalists we can help the public better understand why responsible journalism is essential to their daily lives.”
 
“As the amount of vicious anti-news media rhetoric from some of our top elected and other public officials grows, this project could not come at a more critical time,” added SHELLEY. “RTDNA is proud to be part of this endeavor, along with the COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS and the FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION, which are leading this effort, as well as the nearly two dozen other press freedom organizations that are also participating.”
 
Also participating are the AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NEWSPAPER EDITORS, the COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW, FREE PRESS, the GLOBAL EDITORS NETWORK, X INDEX, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS AND EDITORS, the KNIGHT FIRST AMENDMENT INSTITUTE at COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, the MEDIA LAW RESOURCE CENTER, MEDIASHIFT, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HISPANIC JOURNALISTS, the NATIONAL PRESS CLUB JOURNALISM INSTITUTE, the NATIONAL PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION, NEWSEUM, the ONLINE NEWS ASSOCIATION, PEN AMERICA, POYNTER, the REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS, the SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS, and THE MEDIA CONSORTIUM.

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