{ "title": "Ladder: funding and ownership pressure", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure", "filters": {}, "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.", "tactic": { "slug": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "name": "Funding and ownership pressure", "definition": "A government uses money, or its power over owners, instead of acting against reporters directly. Examples are cutting the funds of public broadcasters, forcing the sale of an outlet, steering state advertising away from some publications, and using licence reviews or merger approvals to press an outlet's owners.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/funding_and_ownership_pressure" }, "focal_case": "US", "count": 24, "stages": [ { "stage": "pressure", "name": "Pressure", "definition": "Using state power short of prosecution to change coverage: regulatory threats, licence reviews, funding cuts, lawsuits by officials, official \"fake news\" or \"foreign agent\" labels, advertising pressure, tax audits.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "1971-us-nixon-enemies-list", "title": "Nixon White House compiles an enemies list naming journalists for official pressure", "occurred_on": "1971-08-16", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "richard-nixon", "leader_name": "Richard Nixon", "what_was_done": "White House Counsel John Dean wrote a memo on how to use federal agencies against President Nixon's political opponents, and the resulting list of more than 200 names included journalists such as CBS News correspondent Daniel Schorr.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1973-06-27", "outcome_note": "The list became public during John Dean's Senate Watergate Committee testimony, discrediting the effort as Nixon's presidency unraveled over the wider Watergate scandal.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-us-nixon-enemies-list" }, { "slug": "2025-fcc-carr-news-distortion-complaints-nbc-cbs", "title": "FCC chair reopens 'news distortion' complaints against CBS and NBC", "occurred_on": "2025-01-22", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "what_was_done": "Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr reopened complaints alleging CBS and NBC distorted the news, demanding CBS turn over the full tape and transcript of a 60 Minutes interview and later accusing NBC's parent Comcast of misleading coverage of an immigration case.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The complaints against CBS and NBC remained open, with no formal licensing action announced in the source reviewed.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-fcc-carr-news-distortion-complaints-nbc-cbs" }, { "slug": "2025-60-minutes-producer-owens-resigns-loss-of-independence", "title": "60 Minutes executive producer resigns, citing lost editorial independence", "occurred_on": "2025-04-22", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "what_was_done": "60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens resigned, saying corporate owner Paramount had begun supervising the program's content in new ways while it faced President Trump's lawsuit over a Harris interview and pursued a sale requiring federal approval; the program publicly said on air that it had lo…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2025-04-22", "outcome_note": "Owens's resignation was not reversed; the program continued under Paramount's new oversight amid the pending settlement and merger.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "lawsuits_against_press" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-60-minutes-producer-owens-resigns-loss-of-independence" }, { "slug": "2025-trump-order-ends-cpb-funding-npr-pbs", "title": "United States: Executive Order 14290 directing an end to federal funding for NPR and PBS, May 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-05-01", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "what_was_done": "On May 1, 2025, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, signed Executive Order 14290, \"Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media.\"", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No court ruling on Executive Order 14290 and no final funding figure appears in the sources cited (as of 2026-09-22).", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-trump-order-ends-cpb-funding-npr-pbs" }, { "slug": "2025-congress-rescinds-cpb-funding", "title": "Congress cuts $1.1 billion in federal funding for public broadcasting", "occurred_on": "2025-07-18", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "what_was_done": "At President Trump's request, Congress passed a rescissions package clawing back roughly $1.1 billion already appropriated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, eliminating federal funding for NPR, PBS and their member stations.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2025-07-24", "outcome_note": "The rescission became law on July 24, 2025 (Public Law 119-28), eliminating CPB's federal appropriation; no restoration of the funding had occurred in the sources reviewed.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-congress-rescinds-cpb-funding" }, { "slug": "2025-fcc-approves-paramount-skydance-with-ombudsman-condition", "title": "FCC approves Paramount-Skydance merger after CBS ombudsman and anti-DEI pledges", "occurred_on": "2025-07-24", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "what_was_done": "The Federal Communications Commission approved Paramount's sale to Skydance Media after Skydance agreed to install an ombudsman to review complaints of bias at CBS News for two years and pledged to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, over the objection of the commission's sole Democratic…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2025-07-24", "outcome_note": "The FCC approved the merger with the ombudsman and anti-DEI conditions in place; Commissioner Gomez's dissent did not change the outcome.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-fcc-approves-paramount-skydance-with-ombudsman-condition" }, { "slug": "2025-fcc-pressure-precedes-kimmel-suspension", "title": "United States: Federal Communications Commission chairman's remarks and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, September 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-09-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "what_was_done": "On September 17, 2025, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the United States regulator of broadcasting, Brendan Carr, said broadcasters could \"do this the easy way or the hard way\" over remarks by the television host Jimmy Kimmel, and warned of \"additional work for the FCC…", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2025-09-23", "outcome_note": "ABC announced the show's return for 2025-09-23 after about a week off the air, according to Al Jazeera (s112).", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-fcc-pressure-precedes-kimmel-suspension" }, { "slug": "2026-court-orders-fcc-to-answer-news-distortion-challenge", "title": "Appeals court orders FCC to respond to challenge over 'news distortion' policy", "occurred_on": "2026-04-28", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "what_was_done": "A bipartisan group of former Federal Communications Commission chairs, commissioners and the Radio Television Digital News Association petitioned a federal appeals court to force the FCC to act on a long-pending request to rescind its decades-old 'news distortion' policy after Chair Brendan Carr re…", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2026-04-28", "outcome_note": "A federal appeals court ordered the FCC to respond to the mandamus petition within thirty days; the underlying policy remained unresolved.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-court-orders-fcc-to-answer-news-distortion-challenge" }, { "slug": "1998-malaysia-anwar-arrest-press-restrictions", "title": "Malaysia pressures domestic media and monitors foreign correspondents after arresting former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim", "occurred_on": "1998-09-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "MY", "country_name": "Malaysia", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 95, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 95th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "mahathir-mohamad", "leader_name": "Mahathir Mohamad", "what_was_done": "After Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government arrested former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in September 1998, party-linked newspapers pressured staff to follow the official line, police visited journalists who interviewed his wife, and authorities said they would monitor internet traffi…", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The sources reviewed do not describe a formal reversal of the surveillance of journalists or the pressure on party-linked papers during this period.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1998-malaysia-anwar-arrest-press-restrictions" }, { "slug": "2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority", "title": "Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage", "occurred_on": "2010-12-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "HU", "country_name": "Hungary", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 74, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "viktor-orban", "leader_name": "Viktor Orban", "what_was_done": "Hungary's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, passed a media law creating a government-appointed National Media and Infocommunications Authority empowered to fine any outlet, print, broadcast or online, for coverage it deemed unbalanced or offensive to public moral…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2011-01-01", "outcome_note": "The law took effect January 1, 2011, and, after European Union criticism, Hungary amended some provisions in 2011 but kept the media authority's core licensing and fining powers.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority" }, { "slug": "2013-ecuador-communications-law-supercom", "title": "Ecuador's Organic Communication Law creates a regulator that issues hundreds of sanctions against journalists and outlets", "occurred_on": "2013-06-25", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "EC", "country_name": "Ecuador", "continent": "south-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 125, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 125th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "rafael-correa", "leader_name": "Rafael Correa", "what_was_done": "Ecuador's National Assembly passed the Organic Communication Law under President Rafael Correa, creating the Superintendency of Information and Communication (SUPERCOM), a regulator that issued more than 675 sanctions against journalists and media outlets over the following four years.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2019-02-20", "outcome_note": "President Lenin Moreno's government moved to eliminate SUPERCOM in 2018, and the reform of the Communication Law was published in the Official Register on February 20, 2019; Fundamedios director Cesar Ricaurte said the surrounding legal framework nonetheless remained \"intact.\"", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "insult_and_defamation_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-ecuador-communications-law-supercom" }, { "slug": "2015-poland-public-media-law-firings", "title": "Poland's new government gains power to replace public broadcaster leadership, and journalists are dismissed", "occurred_on": "2015-12-31", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "PL", "country_name": "Poland", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 27, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "beata-szydlo", "leader_name": "Beata Szydlo", "what_was_done": "Weeks after winning power, Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) party passed a law letting the treasury minister directly appoint and dismiss the heads of public radio and television, and dozens of journalists at the public broadcaster were subsequently dismissed or resigned.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2019-12-31", "outcome_note": "The appointment power and pattern of dismissals continued through the remainder of the PiS government's term; ownership of the public broadcasters changed only after a later change of government.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2015-poland-public-media-law-firings" }, { "slug": "2018-tanzania-online-content-regulations", "title": "Tanzania requires bloggers and online publishers to register and pay an annual government fee", "occurred_on": "2018-03-16", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "TZ", "country_name": "Tanzania", "continent": "africa", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 117, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 117th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "john-magufuli", "leader_name": "John Magufuli", "what_was_done": "Tanzania's government, under President John Magufuli, issued regulations requiring anyone running a blog or website with user content to register with the telecoms regulator and pay an annual fee reported at roughly $930, with vaguely worded content bans.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": "2018-04-12", "outcome_note": "A court granted media and rights groups an injunction against the fee in April 2018 while their challenge proceeded; the sources reviewed do not establish the challenge's final outcome.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-tanzania-online-content-regulations" }, { "slug": "2023-hungary-sovereignty-protection-act", "title": "Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023", "occurred_on": "2023-12-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "HU", "country_name": "Hungary", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 74, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "viktor-orban", "leader_name": "Viktor Orban", "what_was_done": "On December 20, 2023, the president of Hungary, Katalin Novák, promulgated the National Sovereignty Protection Act, passed by the National Assembly, Hungary's parliament, during the government of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2026-06-30", "outcome_note": "The National Assembly abolished the Sovereignty Protection Office on 2026-06-30, according to CPJ (s055).", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-hungary-sovereignty-protection-act" }, { "slug": "2024-georgia-foreign-influence-law", "title": "Georgia enacts 'foreign influence' law requiring media to register as foreign-backed", "occurred_on": "2024-05-28", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "GE", "country_name": "Georgia", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 135, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 135th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "irakli-kobakhidze", "leader_name": "Irakli Kobakhidze", "what_was_done": "Georgia's parliament passed a law requiring media and civil-society groups that receive 20 percent or more of their funding from abroad to register as organizations \"serving the interests of a foreign power,\" over mass street protests and international criticism that the label would be used to marg…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The law took effect despite mass protests and international criticism; the governing party did not withdraw it.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-georgia-foreign-influence-law" }, { "slug": "2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr", "title": "Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR", "occurred_on": "2024-06-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "SK", "country_name": "Slovakia", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 37, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "robert-fico", "leader_name": "Robert Fico", "what_was_done": "Slovakia's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Robert Fico's coalition, dissolved public broadcaster RTVS and replaced it with a new entity, STVR, whose director is now chosen through a process giving parliament and the culture ministry more direct control, prompting protests and criticism fro…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2024-07-01", "outcome_note": "STVR replaced RTVS as planned; the ousted director-general kept only his separate parliamentary mandate.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr" }, { "slug": "2026-el-salvador-freezes-el-faro-shareholder-assets", "title": "El Salvador: freeze on assets of shareholders in El Faro's parent company, February to April 2026", "occurred_on": "2026-04-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "SV", "country_name": "El Salvador", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 143, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 143rd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/country/el-salvador" }, "leader_slug": "nayib-bukele", "leader_name": "Nayib Bukele", "what_was_done": "Between February and April 2026, the government of El Salvador, headed by the president, Nayib Bukele, placed \"preventative annotations\" on a bank account and real estate belonging to two partners of Trípode S.A. de C.V., the parent company of the investigative news outlet El Faro, according to the…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2026-05-08", "outcome_note": "In place as reported by CPJ on 2026-05-08; no reversal is reported in the sources cited.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-el-salvador-freezes-el-faro-shareholder-assets" }, { "slug": "2026-russia-new-law-targets-exiled-journalists-assets", "title": "Russia: law on asset freezes and service denials for exiled \"foreign agents\", August 2026", "occurred_on": "2026-08-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 172, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin", "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin", "what_was_done": "On August 4, 2026, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed a law, adopted unanimously by the Russian parliament on July 24, 2026, that allows the authorities to freeze bank accounts, block property and vehicle sales and deny consular services such as passport renewal to Russians in exile wh…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2026-08-04", "outcome_note": "Signed and in force on 2026-08-04, according to RSF (s062).", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-russia-new-law-targets-exiled-journalists-assets" } ] }, { "stage": "punish", "name": "Punish", "definition": "Legal or physical action against individual journalists or sources: subpoenas and record seizures, prosecutions, arrests, detention, expulsions, visa denials, assault where a government actor is involved.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "1998-serbia-public-information-act-fines", "title": "Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial danger", "occurred_on": "1998-10-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": false, "country": "RS", "country_name": "Serbia", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 104, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "slobodan-milosevic", "leader_name": "Slobodan Milosevic", "what_was_done": "Serbia's parliament passed a Public Information Act allowing courts to levy same-day fines against newspapers for vaguely defined offenses against the state's interests, and independent papers were fined far more often and more heavily than pro-government ones.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2001-01-01", "outcome_note": "The law was suspended after Milosevic lost power in October 2000 elections and a change of government in Serbia.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "insult_and_defamation_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1998-serbia-public-information-act-fines" } ] }, { "stage": "silence", "name": "Silence", "definition": "Removing outlets or channels from the public sphere: closures, licence withdrawals, forced sales, blocking and shutdowns, prior restraint, nationalisation.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "2025-usagm-moves-to-shut-down-voice-of-america", "title": "United States: U.S. Agency for Global Media action to shut down Voice of America operations, March 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-03-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "what_was_done": "Beginning on March 15, 2025, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the United States federal agency that oversees the government's international broadcasters, placed most of its staff on paid administrative leave and moved to shut down the operations of Voice of America (VOA), the United States…", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2025-03-28", "outcome_note": "A temporary restraining order of 2025-03-28 barred USAGM from reducing its workforce; litigation continued into 2026.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 5, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-usagm-moves-to-shut-down-voice-of-america" }, { "slug": "1960-egypt-nasser-nationalizes-press", "title": "Egypt's Nasser government nationalizes every newspaper and magazine in the country", "occurred_on": "1960-05-24", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "EG", "country_name": "Egypt", "continent": "africa", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 169, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "gamal-abdel-nasser", "leader_name": "Gamal Abdel Nasser", "what_was_done": "President Gamal Abdel Nasser's government issued a decree on May 24, 1960 placing every newspaper and magazine in Egypt under state ownership and management, with the government appointing editors and deciding content, ending private control of the country's press.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "1989-01-01", "outcome_note": "State ownership structures created by the 1960 decree, including the government-appointed leadership of major papers such as Al-Ahram, remained in place through the 1980s.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1960-egypt-nasser-nationalizes-press" }, { "slug": "2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv", "title": "State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network", "occurred_on": "2001-04-14", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 172, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin", "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin", "what_was_done": "Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas company, used debts owed by NTV's parent company to take control of the country's last major independent television network at a shareholders' meeting, replacing its owner and top editors with its own appointees.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2001-04-14", "outcome_note": "The takeover was not reversed; most of NTV's original staff resigned in the following weeks rather than work under the new management.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv" }, { "slug": "2017-cambodia-daily-closed-tax-bill", "title": "Cambodia's government forces the closure of The Cambodia Daily with a disputed multimillion-dollar tax bill", "occurred_on": "2017-09-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "KH", "country_name": "Cambodia", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 151, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "hun-sen", "leader_name": "Hun Sen", "what_was_done": "Cambodia's tax authority presented the independent, English-language Cambodia Daily with a $6.3 million bill the paper called arbitrary and undocumented, forcing the 24-year-old newspaper to close rather than pay, amid a wider campaign against independent media before 2018 elections.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2017-09-04", "outcome_note": "The Cambodia Daily did not reopen; its closure coincided with a wider campaign against independent outlets and civil-society groups ahead of Cambodia's 2018 election.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2017-cambodia-daily-closed-tax-bill" }, { "slug": "2024-argentina-milei-closes-telam", "title": "Milei's government shuts down Argentina's state news agency Telam", "occurred_on": "2024-03-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "AR", "country_name": "Argentina", "continent": "south-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 98, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "javier-milei", "leader_name": "Javier Milei", "what_was_done": "President Javier Milei's government fenced off and shut down Telam, Argentina's state-owned news agency, calling it a public-relations operation for the prior Kirchnerist governments; unions and journalist groups called the closure one of the most serious blows to press freedom in decades of Argent…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "Telam's original newsroom remained closed; the agency was later reorganized as a smaller state communications operation.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-argentina-milei-closes-telam" } ] } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure?format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure.json", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure.md" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }