A recent report by Reporters Without Borders has accused the Trump administration of negatively impacting press freedom in the US and lowering the country’s ranking on the issue. The report states that Donald Trump’s second term as president has led to a deterioration in press freedom, indicative of an authoritarian shift in government.
The organization gave the US a press freedom score of 65.49, ranking it similarly to countries like Uruguay and Ghana. Reporters Without Borders accuses Trump of “weaponizing institutions, cutting support for independent media, and sidelining reporters.” This has resulted in trust in the media plummeting, with local news outlets disappearing and leaving vast swaths of the country as “news deserts.”
The report also highlights Trump’s termination of federal funding for the US Agency for Global Media, which affects audiences and outlets worldwide. Additionally, there have been 49 journalist arrests in 2024 compared to 15 in 2023, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The White House has not commented on the allegations, but the report’s findings raise serious concerns about the Trump administration’s impact on press freedom and its implications for a free and independent media.
Source: https://www.foxnews.com/media/journalist-group-downgrades-us-press-freedom-ranking-cites-trump-spending-cuts-public-media