What Is Freedom of the Press
Freedom of the press is the right to report and publish news without government interference. It protects criticism of the government and stops officials from blocking stories, punishing reporters, or shutting down news outlets. This right belongs to everyone, not just journalists.
In 1971, the Nixon administration tried to stop the New York Times from publishing classified documents about Vietnam. The Supreme Court said no. The government cannot censor the press to avoid embarrassment.
Freedom of the press exists so you can find out what the government is doing with your money, your rights, and your name. When it works, officials answer questions and documents are public. When it fails, corruption rises, voter turnout drops, and nobody covers your city council.
Key facts
- Reporters Without Borders ranks the U.S. 64th out of 180 countries, behind every G7 ally. Down 25 spots since 2015.
- 324+ journalists arrested or detained while reporting in the U.S. since 2020. Most were covering protests. 90% released without charges.
- The president filed $60B+ in lawsuits against six news organizations. Two settled and changed their coverage. Four are still fighting.
- 3,500 local newspapers closed since 2005. When a newspaper closes, corruption rises 7% and voter turnout drops.
- Only 12% of public records requests to the federal government are fully granted. The legal deadline is 20 days. The average response takes 289.
The legal protections are real. The Supreme Court ruled in 1971 that the government cannot stop a newspaper from publishing, even if the story involves classified information (Pentagon Papers case). Public officials who sue for defamation must prove the journalist knew the claim was false or did not care whether it was (actual malice standard, NYT v. Sullivan, 1964). 49 states protect reporters from being forced to reveal their sources.
The U.S. Dropped 25 Spots in 12 Years
In 2015, the U.S. ranked 49th in press freedom. By 2017, the president was calling journalists “enemies of the people.” By 2020, 324 journalists had been arrested. By 2025, NPR and PBS lost $1.1 billion in federal funding. By 2026, the U.S. ranked 64th.
- Ranked 49th
- "Enemies of the people"
- 324+ journalists arrested in U.S.
- NPR/PBS funding cut $1.1B
- CBS settles for $16M
- Ranked 64th
: 2015 — Ranked 49th. 2017 — "Enemies of the people". 2020 — 324+ journalists arrested in U.S.. 2025 — NPR/PBS funding cut $1.1B. 2025 — CBS settles for $16M. 2026 — Ranked 64th.
The decline accelerated after 2024. The U.S. dropped 10 spots from 2023 to 2024, then 7 more in 2025, and 7 more in 2026. RSF moved the U.S. from “satisfactory” to “problematic” to “difficult situation” in three years.
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 49th |
| 2026 | 64th |
| Change | -25 spots |
Every peer democracy ranks higher. Germany 14th. United Kingdom 18th. France 25th. Canada 26th. Australia 29th.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Germany (14th) | 82.17 |
| United Kingdom (18th) | 78.95 |
| France (25th) | 77.35 |
| Canada (26th) | 77.54 |
| Australia (29th) | 74.58 |
| United States (64th) | 62.61 |
2026 RSF World Press Freedom Index scores. Higher = better. Source: Reporters Without Borders.
Sources: AP, NPR, PBS, Politico, Freedom of the Press Foundation
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2017 | President calls journalists "enemies of the people" |
| Feb 2025 | AP banned from White House over naming dispute |
| Mar 2025 | FCC reopens "60 Minutes" investigation tied to pending lawsuit |
| Apr 2025 | "60 Minutes" executive producer resigns, citing lost independence |
| May 2025 | $1.1B cut from NPR/PBS. NPR sues. |
| Jul 2025 | CBS pays $16M to settle $20B lawsuit |
| Sep 2025 | ABC suspends Kimmel after FCC license threat |
| Oct 2025 | NYT, WaPo reject Pentagon press access policy |
| Jan 2026 | Don Lemon and Georgia Fort arrested. WaPo reporter's home raided. |
| Apr 2026 | President threatens to jail journalists for not revealing sources |
How the Government Is Attacking the Press
- 6
- lawsuits against news organizations
- $60B+
- in damages sought from media
- $1.1B
- cut from NPR and PBS
- 324+
- journalists arrested since 2020
Lawsuits as weapons
Six lawsuits against six of the largest news organizations in the world. $60 billion in combined damages. ABC settled for $15 million. CBS settled for $16 million from an original $20 billion demand. Four lawsuits are still pending. The outlets that settled changed their coverage. The ones that haven’t settled are spending millions on legal defense instead of journalism. You do not need to win a $10 billion lawsuit to silence a newsroom. You need to file one.
Source: Politico, AP News
| Outlet | Amount | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | $15M (settled) | Dec 2024 | Paid to presidential library |
| CBS/Paramount | $16M (settled from $20B) | Jul 2025 | Settled after 60 Minutes producer resigned |
| Wall Street Journal | $10B | Jul 2025 | Pending |
| New York Times | $15B | Sep 2025 | Pending |
| BBC | $10B | Nov 2025 | Pending |
| Washington Post | $10B | 2025 | Pending |
The FCC Threatened Broadcast Licenses
The FCC is supposed to be independent. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr reopened an investigation into “60 Minutes” in January 2025, directly related to the pending lawsuit against CBS. He threatened to block mergers involving companies with DEI policies. He warned broadcasters they could lose licenses for “inaccurate reporting” on Iran.
The effect was immediate. The longtime executive producer of “60 Minutes” resigned in April 2025, saying he no longer had journalistic independence. Reporter Scott Pelley confirmed “Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways.”
ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel in September 2025 after Carr warned ABC could lose its license. CBS announced plans to cancel “The Late Show With Colbert” in May 2026.
Arrests, raids, and criminal threats
In January 2026, federal agents arrested former CNN anchor Don Lemon at the Grammys in Los Angeles. His crime was covering an anti-ICE protest at a St. Paul church. Independent journalist Georgia Fort was arrested at the same event. Both were charged with conspiracy.
The FBI raided Washington Post reporter Hannah Natson’s home. Agents seized her phone, her watch, her personal laptop, and her work computer.
Two Spanish-language reporters were detained by ICE. Estefany Rodríguez was held for over 10 days. Mario Guevara was deported.
In April 2026, the president threatened to jail journalists who would not reveal their sources for reporting about the Iran mission.
The White House Banned the AP
The Associated Press was banned from the White House press pool in February 2025. The reason was that AP refused to change “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America” in its reporting.
Major news outlets rejected a Pentagon press policy that would have required journalists to acknowledge new rules. Under those rules, the Pentagon could brand reporters as security risks.
DHS proposed shortening foreign media visas to 240 days. For Chinese nationals, 90 days. Renewal could be conditioned on coverage the government finds acceptable.
12% of Records Requests Granted
Press freedom is not only about journalists. Every citizen has the right to request government records through the Freedom of Information Act.
That system is breaking. Only 12% of requests are fully granted, the lowest rate ever recorded. The legal deadline is 20 business days. The average response takes 289 days.
USCIS rejected 41,918 FOIA requests in 2025. That is a 770% increase from the same period in 2024. A whistleblower alleged the agency mass-closed requests to appear compliant with a court order rather than actually processing them.
The Local News Collapse
Local news is disappearing faster than at any point in American history. 3,500 newspapers have closed since 2005. 270,000 newsroom jobs are gone.
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 7,325 |
| 2025 | 4,490 |
| Change | -39% |
213 counties have zero local news coverage. 50 million Americans have limited or no access to local reporting. The communities most affected are rural, low-income, and disproportionately communities of color.
The cause is not just economics. Six conglomerates control 90% of the U.S. media market. Half of all daily newspapers are owned by financial firms.
Alden Global Capital, the second-largest newspaper publisher, cuts newsrooms at twice the rate of competitors. The Chicago Tribune had 700 reporters 20 years ago. It has between 70 and 100 now. The San Jose Mercury News went from more than 200 journalists to about 24.
What Communities Lose Without Local News
The academic evidence is consistent across every study. When local news disappears, measurable harm follows.
Sources: Medill, Notre Dame, CJR, Carnegie, peer-reviewed political science and economics research
| What happens when local news disappears | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Corruption increases | Newspaper closure associated with 7% increase in federal corruption cases |
| Voter turnout drops | Adding one newspaper increases turnout by 0.3 percentage points. Idaho mayoral coverage and turnout both dropped 54%. |
| Borrowing costs rise | Municipal bond interest rates rise 5-11 basis points after last newspaper closes (~$85/person/year) |
| Government waste increases | Higher government wages, more employees, more deficit spending without press oversight |
| Pollution worsens | Factories near active newspapers produce 30% fewer toxic emissions |
| Partisanship increases | Newspaper closure reduced split-ticket voting by 1.9-2% |
| Fewer candidates run | Less political competition, incumbents win more often |
The pattern is global. V-Dem Institute counts the United States among 45 countries moving in an authoritarian direction. RSF says press freedom is at a 25-year global low. Freedom House has documented 19 consecutive years of democratic decline.
In every case the research has measured, the decline in press freedom and the decline in democratic health move together.
How to Exercise Your Press Freedom
Press freedom is not something that exists in a vault. It exists when people exercise it. Every tool below is a right you already have.
File a public records request. The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to request any government record. MuckRock makes filing free and tracks the response. The government is legally required to answer. Most of the time, it does not answer on time. File anyway. The request itself creates a record.
Attend a public meeting. City council, school board, county commissioners. These meetings are legally open. They are where zoning, budgets, policing, and education decisions happen. When no journalist is there and no citizen shows up, officials make decisions without accountability.
Subscribe to your local newspaper or public radio station. The 3,500 papers that closed did not close because nobody read them. They closed because nobody paid for them. A subscription funds the reporter who covers your city council. When that reporter disappears, corruption rises 7%.
Read the press your government does not want you to read. The AP was banned from the White House. Pentagon reporters were told to sign rules that could brand them security risks. When the government restricts access to specific outlets, those outlets are covering something the government does not want covered. Read them.
The Authoritarian Playbook
RSF calls Hungary’s Viktor Orbán a “press freedom predator” who built a media empire subject to his party’s orders without imprisoning or killing a single journalist. Orbán packed the media authority with loyalists, transferred 500 outlets to a pro-government foundation, directed 90% of state advertising to allied media, and used strategic lawsuits to drain independent outlets.
Every warning sign documented in Hungary, Russia, and the Philippines is now present in the United States.
Sources: RSF, HRW, Freedom House, CPJ, ACLU
| Warning sign | Hungary | Russia | Philippines | U.S. (2025-2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leader attacks media as "enemies" | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Lawsuits against journalists | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ ($60B+) |
| Regulatory threats to licenses | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (FCC) |
| Funding cuts to public media | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ ($1.1B) |
| Media ownership captured | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (6 companies, 90%) |
| Journalists arrested | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (324+) |
| Foreign agent laws targeting press | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (I-visa) |
The method is what NYU Law calls “autocratic legalism” — using law to dismantle democratic checks while maintaining the appearance of democracy. It does not require censorship offices or state-run media. It requires lawsuits, regulatory pressure, funding cuts, and enough fear that self-censorship does the rest.
Not All Media Is Journalism
Press freedom is not freedom from criticism. The First Amendment protects the government from suppressing the press. It does not protect journalists from being wrong, biased, or criticized. Citizens can criticize, boycott, and cancel subscriptions. The government cannot sue, arrest, or defund.
Not every media outlet practices journalism. Opinion shows, partisan commentary, and entertainment are protected speech but are not journalism. Journalism verifies before publishing, names sources when possible, corrects errors publicly, and serves the public interest over ratings. The distinction matters because attacks on press freedom often exploit legitimate frustration with media quality to justify government control.
Libel laws exist for a reason. Public officials can sue for defamation if reporting is false and published with actual malice. The standard is high because democracy requires the press to be able to report on power without fear of retaliation. But the standard exists. False reporting has legal consequences.
Shield laws protect sources, not misconduct. 49 states protect journalists from revealing confidential sources. This protects whistleblowers, not lawbreakers. Without source protection, people inside government cannot safely report corruption, waste, or abuse.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to arrest a journalist for reporting? Generally no. The First Amendment protects newsgathering. But courts have allowed arrests when journalists are charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, or violating police orders at protest sites. 90% of journalists arrested in 2025 were released without charges.
Can the president revoke a TV station’s broadcast license? Not directly. The FCC grants and reviews licenses. But the FCC chairman is appointed by the president, and FCC Chairman Carr has used license threats to pressure broadcasters.
Does the U.S. have a federal shield law? No. The Supreme Court declined to create one in Branzburg v. Hayes (1972). 49 states and DC passed their own. The PRESS Act (S.2074) has been proposed but not passed. Over 30 journalists have been jailed for not revealing sources.
What is a FOIA request and why does it matter? The Freedom of Information Act gives anyone the right to request government records. The legal deadline is 20 business days. The actual average is 289 days. Only 12% of requests are fully granted, an all-time low.
Why does local news matter more than national news? Local journalists cover city council, school boards, police, and courts. When they disappear, corruption increases 7%, voter turnout drops, and borrowing costs rise. National outlets do not cover your county commissioner.
What you can do
- Subscribe to local news. A subscription to your local newspaper or public radio station funds the reporters who cover your city council, school board, and courts. If your area has no local paper, support regional investigative outlets.
- Tell your senators to pass the PRESS Act (S.2074). A federal shield law would protect journalists from being forced to reveal confidential sources. 49 states have shield laws. The federal government does not.
- File FOIA requests. Use MuckRock to file public records requests with your local, state, or federal government. The law gives you the right. Use it.
- Support press freedom organizations. The Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the Committee to Protect Journalists defend journalists and fight for transparency.
- Pay attention to who controls your media. Check Free Press and OpenSecrets to see who owns the outlets you read and who funds the content you consume.