Sara Fischer at Axios Media Trends:
The Capitol attack on January 6th resulted in at least 9 physical assaults against journalists and at least 5 arrests, per the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s top editor.
Why it matters: President Trump’s harsh rhetoric towards the press has empowered leaders abroad and locally in the U.S. to continue to attack press that they don’t like.
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Ahead of inauguration, several journalists tell CNN they plan to wear bullet-proof vests. Many newsrooms have instructed reporters not to wear any paraphernalia, including press badges, that could identify them as journalists.
- A coalition of news organizations sent a letter to federal law enforcement agencies last week calling for greater transparency and more information about political violence threats at the inauguration.
The big picture: A record 110 journalists were arrested or criminally charged in the U.S. in 2020, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, compared to 9 in 2019.
- Roughly 300 journalists were assaulted, mostly by law enforcement officials.
- A large portion of those assaults occurred over the summer during Black Lives matters protests and in November during election-related protests.
- Several factors, including an increasingly hostile attitude towards the press, have helped to eradicate norms that once afforded journalists police protection, per CPJ.
The bottom line: 2020 set a new record for the number of imprisoned journalists globally. More journalists are being murdered in countries that aren’t at war.
- Of the 50 journalists killed last year, 84% were knowingly targeted and deliberately murdered for doing their jobs.