As World Press Freedom Day (May 3) nears, it’s a good time to step back and assess how journalists and news outlets are faring in our current media climate.

President Donald Trump came back to the White House and picked up right where he left off, insulting and attacking the press on an almost daily basis, suing media outlets, and taking a number of concrete actions to restrict press freedom. Against this backdrop, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) will release its 2026 World Press Freedom Index on April 30.

 

American Press Freedom on the Brink

Clayton Weimers for Project Censored

 

Every year, RSF scores and ranks 180 countries and territories based on their level of press freedom. The Index evaluates five indicators: political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context, and safety. The United States has declined in each of these indicators and steadily fallen on the Index over the past decade, dropping in rank from 49th in 2015 to 57th in 2025.

It may be tempting to blame Trump entirely for the perilous state of journalism in the country, but that steady decline in press freedom over the past decade spans multiple administrations, with both parties holding power in Washington. Such a prolonged decline points to structural deficiencies that cannot be attributed to a single issue, person, or administration.

Media ownership has become increasingly consolidated among a few media moguls, as outlets have also faced major revenue losses.

Local news is also vanishing, and millions of Americans, especially in rural and low-income areas, now live in “news deserts.”

Time and again, Congress has missed opportunities to enact meaningful press freedom protections, such as the PRESS Act, while local and state governments have chipped away at press freedom.

Violence against journalists has risen to stubbornly high levels, according to the US Press Freedom Tracker. And in the last decade, eight journalists in the US were killed for their journalism or while working.

And through this tumultuous period, public trust in news has plummeted.

Now, on top of that overall troubling context, a White House openly hostile to journalism is exacerbating an already fraught situation. Since returning to power, Trump, along with his advisors and allies, has dealt devastating blows to journalism, setting dangerous precedents and inflicting enduring harm.

From limiting journalists’ access to government buildings to cutting public media funding to targeting and threatening disfavored media outlets, the administration has regularly violated press freedom.

While these individual incidents are scandalous, and often unconstitutional, it’s easy for them to be washed away into the constant churn of the news cycle. Put them all together, though, and one conclusion is unavoidable: Trump is waging an all-out war on press freedom and journalism.

Trump promised to be a dictator on just “day one” of his term, but the totality of his anti-press campaign signals that the self-proclaimed “Peace President” is sinking to the depths of authoritarian regimes. His war on press freedom affects all five indicators RSF measures to compile the Index: political, legal, economic, sociocultural, and safety.

Political context

On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order “ending federal censorship,” effectively eliminating government monitoring of misinformation and disinformation.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has also weaponized the independent agency to investigate news outlets with coverage that the presidential administration disagrees with.

The administration removed thousands of US government pages that hosted information ranging from vaccines to climate change, vital resources for journalists and the general public alike.

Reporters have been barred from, or had their access severely restricted at the State Department, Air Force One, the Pentagon, and even a section of the White House previously known as “Upper Press.”

Legal framework

In addition to the president’s numerous lawsuits against media outlets, his administration earlier this year raided the home of Washington Post journalist Hannah Natanson and confiscated her personal and professional devices, a truly dangerous and unprecedented assault that puts thousands of Natanson’s sources at risk and is likely to scare off future sources from speaking with journalists. Journalists like Don Lemon and Georgia Fort have been arrested and threatened with criminal charges while doing their work.

Economic context

Trump led the charge to eliminate federal funding for public media. He’s also inserted himself into media company mergers and acquisitions, putting his thumb on the scale to ensure his political allies take control of American media outlets—a move eerily reminiscent of Viktor Orbán in Hungary and even Vladimir Putin in Russia.

Sociocultural context

Trump’s near-daily attacks and insults against journalists have set an example for others, with journalists now facing online and public harassment while doing their job. The bar for attacks against journalists is undeniably lower today thanks to Trump. RSF’s 2024 investigation into the state of press freedom in swing states found journalists reporting alarming instances of direct threats to their safety by local politicians. Threats against journalists by elected officials that once seemed inconceivable have become de rigueur.

Safety

Journalists faced a spike in physical violence by law enforcement and federal agents while doing their work. This was most evident as journalists covered widespread protests against the administration’s sweeping crackdown on immigration in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Press freedom around the world is in trouble, as RSF’s Index has shown in recent years. Notably, the Trump effect extends beyond US borders. The American retreat from foreign aid led to the withdrawal of millions of dollars that supported independent media in developing economies around the world. In one striking example, a safety training session for journalists in the Amazon was abruptly canceled because of the USAID shutdown.

Authoritarian leaders are further emboldened to attack the press with the knowledge that the United States is no longer championing press freedom. When Serbian authorities raided the offices of the country’s largest fact-checker, they cited X posts by Elon Musk in his capacity as the leader of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) as evidence of the media organization’s crimes. That evidence? Accepting a USAID grant.

This is a moment of crisis for American media. During the twentieth century, press freedom—and free expression more broadly—saw a gradual, if uneven, expansion. Now we’re heading in the other direction for the first time in generations, and RSF isn’t the only organization that’s noticed. The Varieties of Democracy Institute’s 2026 Democracy Report found that US freedom of expression had declined to World War II levels. Freedom House also docked the United States in its latest global report, with freedom of expression cited as a leading factor in democratic backsliding.

We can’t lay all the blame for the state of American press freedom at the president’s feet, but Trump has taken a troubling situation and turned it into a full-blown crisis that we must urgently solve. Our very democracy is at stake.

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Clayton Weimers is a recognized leader in press freedom who serves as North America Director for Reporters Without Borders (RSF). He and his team defend press freedom across the English-speaking Americas and advance RSF’s global priorities to advocate for journalists and everyone’s right to information. His writing on press freedom has appeared in publications such as the Guardian, Newsweek, The Hill, and The Independent. He originally joined RSF’s DC team as Deputy Director for Advocacy after a career in political campaigns. He has degrees from the University of Chicago and Pitzer College and a borderline unhealthy relationship with the Chicago Cubs and Everton Football Club.

https://scheerpost.com/2026/05/01/american-press-freedom-on-the-brink/

 

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GUSNOTE: World Press Freedom Day IS ALWAYS USED TO BASH RUSSIA AND BELARUS AND WHOMEVER THE WEST DOES NOT LIKE... THERE IS MORE PRESS FREEDOM IN RUSSIA THAN IN GERMANY AND THE USA OR THE UK FOR WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW... DESPITE WHAT THE Reporters Without Borders SAY....

 

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Rick Sanchez after interview: If Lukashenko is a dictator, then I am the Queen of England...

MINSK, 17 April (BelTA) – Rick Sanchez, the host of the Sanchez Effect program on the RT TV channel, answered questions from Belarusian journalists after his interview with Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko and shared his impressions of the conversation with the head of state, BelTA has learned. Rick Sanchez said that at present he feels greater journalistic freedom and independence on the Russian TV channel than in the American mass media he had previously worked for. In this regard the interview with the Belarusian head of state was very telling. Rick Sanchez emphasized that it had proceeded as a free conversation, an open exchange of views and ideas without any restrictions or predetermined topics and questions. “Therefore, if Lukashenko is a dictator, then I am the Queen of England,” the journalist said ironically, sharing his impressions of the interview with Aleksandr Lukashenko.Rick Sanchez sincerely admitted that he had gone into the conversation with the Belarus president with a certain prejudice about him as a “dictator.” The prejudice had formed over years of living in the USA. He explained that while in that country, it is very difficult to avoid the stereotypes that are imposed from all sides. “If you live in the USA, you are taught to think that only America matters and other countries have no significance,” the journalist explained. “You hear this day after day and you believe it (as I did). Until you travel to other countries around the world, and then your eyes are opened: it turns out there is an alternative reality. This does not mean that other countries, for example Belarus or Russia, are perfect. There are problems. But they – these countries – are not worse. They are just different. And we need to recognize and discuss these differences in order to make things better. This is exactly what journalists should be doing.” He noted that information about Belarus and the Belarusian head of state in American mass media and in Western media as a whole can hardly be called objective either. This is why the journalist expects the interview with Aleksandr Lukashenko to  help convey the real picture to the Western audience. “Belarus is a country that has managed to get its life in order and avoid many of the problems that the neighbors have. My job as an American is to show the real Belarus. It is also very important to me that my audience sees that Belarus and President Lukashenko have managed to say no to the Western system and have refused to dance to the West’s tune,” the journalist emphasized.Apart from that, Rick Sanchez added, the conversation with the head of state showed that Belarus is open to good relations with all the countries interested in it: “He [the Belarus president] emphasized that it is important to have good relations with Russia, China, the DPRK... Nevertheless, Belarus is open to friendly relations with absolutely everyone.” During the interview the potential in relations between Minsk and Washington was also discussed. Rick Sanchez believes that Belarus could become kind of a bridge between the USA and Russia. In his opinion, the American leader Donald Trump is trying to establish good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but doing so directly is not so easy. “Trump cannot plainly say that he wants to make peace with Putin. Many in America would be offended. They would not forgive him for that. Therefore, building a bridge from Washington to Moscow is not so easy. Belarus could become a pillar of support. If relations with Minsk are established first, it would give Trump an opportunity for a smoother approach to establishing relations with Russia,” Rick Sanchez said. https://eng.belta.by/politics/view/rick-sanchez-after-interview-if-lukashenko-is-a-dictator-then-i-am-the-queen-of-england-179209-2026/ 

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