Press freedom group warns a Trump victory could embolden attacks on journalists

Next month’s presidential election could make America’s hostile media climate even worse for journalists. And it’s not just Americans who have something at stake: Reporters in other countries are watching the United States with apprehension.

Next month’s presidential election could make America’s hostile media climate even worse for journalists. And it’s not just Americans who have something at stake: Reporters in other countries are watching the United States with apprehension. That’s the takeaway from a new Committee to Protect Journalists report about the state of press freedom in the US. “Media workers are confronting challenges that include an increased risk of violence, arrest, on- and offline harassment, legal battles, and criminalization,” said Katherine Jacobsen, the report’s author. Her research pointed to other causes for concern, like political polarization, “a lack of police accountability for their treatment of journalists,” and the legacy of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Freelance photojournalist Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, who was on assignment at the Capitol for The Washington Post, told Jacobsen that “January 6th was a warning shot.” “It was a wakeup call to the fragility of our democracy and trust in institutions – like journalism, like the government – that’s been eroding for a very long time,” she said. The Committee to Protect Journalists has historically called attention to journalists being arrested and killed in repressive regimes. The presidency of Donald Trump – with its “enemy of the people” rhetoric and destabilizing actions against the press – caused the nonprofit group’s leaders to look inward.