In the United States in 2020, the press incurred 238 freedom violations. This number is accounted for by the collection of data by a watch dog organization, Press Freedom Tracker. The organization’s website shows assaults, access denials, subpoena, and equipment seizures, border stops, leak cases, and physical attacks, prior restraint, arrests and criminal charges. The organization is funded by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, whose board members include Edward Snowden, Laura Poitras, John Cusack, and others.
Data like that presented by the press freedom tracker is important because the data points represent violations of the First Amendment, granting freedom of the press. 2020 was a year of heightened incidences of press freedom violations. In between 2017-2019 there were 144 and 152 incidences each year, with the 2020 figure of 238 constituting a 64% increase. This figure likely can be correlated with journalists’ presence at riots in 2020.
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