About The War On News

The War On News is a dated record of how governments have limited journalists, from 1900 to today.

Why it matters

Democratic government depends on journalism. Citizens learn what those in power are doing largely through reporters who can enter public buildings, ask questions, publish and protect their sources. When a government restricts any of those things, the public knows less about the people who govern it.

The United States is the focal case. The First Amendment to its constitution, adopted in 1791, is among the oldest written protections of the press still in force. On September 18, 2026, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred from the White House, the president's office and residence. The next day their reporters were denied entry.

The United States is one country among many here. Setting its actions beside those of other governments shows which countries have used the same methods, how each applied them and with what outcome: reversed or upheld by a court, or left in place.

What the site is

A sourced record, read by country, by tactic or by period. Each entry sets out what happened, who acted, the reason they gave in their own words, what changed for reporting and where the matter stands, with links to the reporting and documents it rests on. Before 2020 it holds anchor incidents for each decade and region; from 2020, every well-sourced incident.

What it is not

It is not a news organization and does no original reporting. It is not an advocacy group, and it takes no position on litigation or legislation. The name is a title, not a finding about any government. For fuller incident counts or legal help, start with:

• the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a database of press freedom incidents in the United States;
• the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York non-profit that documents cases of journalists imprisoned or killed worldwide;
• Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an organization based in Paris that publishes the annual World Press Freedom Index;
• the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a United States non-profit that builds security tools for journalists and runs the Tracker;
• the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a United States non-profit that provides legal help to journalists;
• the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which litigates and researches freedom of speech and of the press.

Sources

Entries rest on court records and other primary documents, reporting by established news organizations and reports by press freedom organizations. Every fact is shown with a verbatim quotation from its source. Sources and standards sets out the rules.

Who publishes it

Peter Benes publishes and edits The War On News from Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. He sets its policies and answers for its content.

The development of this site and its content were assisted with AI.

Contact

• General enquiries: hello@thewaronnews.com
• Corrections: corrections@thewaronnews.com (how corrections work)
• Tips about unrecorded incidents: tips@thewaronnews.com