So far in 2022, we’ve documented five assaults on journalists

View this email in your browser ([link removed])

Friends of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker:

Welcome back to your monthly newsletter around press freedom violations in the United States. Find archived editions here ([link removed]) .
A snapshot of categories from our home page this month (U.S. Press Freedom Tracker)
On March 25, we noted on social media ([link removed]) that it was one year since 19 journalists were arrested or detained in Los Angeles’ Echo Park Lake, the most arrests the Tracker has documented in a single day. Those journalists were documenting the clearing of a large homeless encampment, and ensuing demonstrations against that sweep, when they were arrested or otherwise kept by law enforcement from reporting.
Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department stand near Echo Park Lake during the eviction of homeless encampments there on March 25, 2021./REUTERS/David Swanson

All told, 2021 would see 59 arrests or detainements of journalists ([link removed]) . By way of comparison, so far in 2022, zero journalists have been arrested or detained.

Five, however, have been assaulted ([link removed]) this year, including a Denver-based photojournalist who was at the city’s Union Station, covering, ironically, a story on a crime spike in the area. The reporter/anchor with him at the time told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that an individual ran up to the CBS Denver News journalist and hit him in the head, threatening to kill him ([link removed]) . While the station declined to identify the photojournalist, the Tracker was told he was OK.

As in Denver, all 2022 assaults of journalists documented by the Tracker have been at the hands of private individuals:
* A reporter and photojournalist for WWL-TV in Louisiana were investigating the mistaken release of a convicted pedophile on March 3 when they were assaulted by a man who was unhappy the news crew was on his property. According to the police report, obtained by the Tracker, reporter David Hammer was struck on his hand with a pair of pliers, also damaging his cell phone ([link removed]) ;
* Photojournalist T.J. Pipitone was struck by the man’s vehicle twice ([link removed]) , causing Pipitone to fall into a ditch. The man has been charged with several counts of battery;
* KJRH multimedia journalist Katie Keleher was shot with a pellet gun ([link removed]) as she prepared for a live shot in downtown Tulsa on March 16;
* In February, multimedia journalist Joanna Bouras was pushed into a concrete wall ([link removed]) by an individual while reporting from the scene of a shootout in Providence, Rhode Island.

By this time last year — the end of March, 2021 — the Tracker had documented 48 assaults of journalists ([link removed]) . Just more than half ([link removed]) of those — 25 — came from private individuals, and the remaining 23 from law enforcement ([link removed]) .


** Evolution/Evolución
------------------------------------------------------------

At the Tracker, we’re constantly evolving in an effort to improve, well… everything. We recently launched a Spanish-language tips submission portal ([link removed]) as a way to increase outreach to journalists across the U.S.

Next month, you’ll see a total website redesign that will make finding, organizing and understanding Tracker data easier than ever before. I can’t emphasize enough how proud I am of our team for working toward these updates that uphold our mission of being a centralized repository for data about press freedom in the U.S. You, too, can support the Tracker’s mission by donating here ([link removed]) .
Best,
Kirstin McCudden
Managing Editor, U.S. Press Freedom Tracker


[link removed]
[link removed]

============================================================
Copyright © 2022 Freedom of the Press Foundation, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:
Freedom of the Press Foundation
601 Van Ness Ave Ste E371
San Francisco, CA 94102-3200
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.