The War On News

How governments have limited journalists, 1900 to today.

Search in the United States

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

56 incidents match this view. Showing 50 on page 1 of 2.

Country: United States, RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180

Continent: North America

Tactic: Access bans (19) Surveillance and subpoenas (14) Secrets and espionage laws (11) Funding and ownership pressure (9) Detention and violence (8) Credential control (6) Prior restraint (6) Lawsuits against the press (5) Shutdowns and blocking (2) Licensing and closure of outlets (1) Official labels (1)

Stage: Restrict (18) Pressure (15) Punish (18) Silence (5)

Outcome: Reversed (16) Sustained (16) Ongoing (12) Unknown (7) Upheld by a court (5)

Level: National (47) State or province (6) Municipal (3)

Head of government: Barack Obama Donald Trump Doug Ducey Dwight D. Eisenhower Franklin D. Roosevelt George H. W. Bush George W. Bush Jacob Frey Jeff Landry Joe Biden Karen Bass Laura Kelly Richard Nixon Ron DeSantis Ronald Reagan Theodore Christianson Tim Walz Woodrow Wilson

DateIncidentCountryTacticHead of governmentOutcome
September 18, 2026United States: White House hard-pass deactivations for CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters, September 2026United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansDonald TrumpOngoing (September 21, 2026)
July 10, 2026Customs officers seize Grayzone editor's phones at Virginia airport over Iran reportingUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasDonald TrumpReversed (July 17, 2026)
April 28, 2026Appeals court orders FCC to respond to challenge over 'news distortion' policyUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Funding and ownership pressureDonald TrumpOngoing (April 28, 2026)
October 31, 2025White House closes 'Upper Press' section of West Wing to reportersUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansDonald TrumpSustained
October 15, 2025United States: News organizations turn in their Pentagon press credentials, October 2025United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Credential controlDonald TrumpOngoing (April 9, 2026)
September 19, 2025United States: Department of Defense press credential rules requiring approval before release of information, September 2025United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Credential controlDonald TrumpOngoing (April 9, 2026)
September 17, 2025United States: Federal Communications Commission chairman's remarks and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, September 2025United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Funding and ownership pressureDonald TrumpReversed (September 23, 2025)
September 15, 2025Trump files, then refiles, $15 billion defamation suit against the New York TimesUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Lawsuits against the pressDonald TrumpOngoing (October 16, 2025)
July 24, 2025FCC approves Paramount-Skydance merger after CBS ombudsman and anti-DEI pledgesUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Funding and ownership pressureDonald TrumpSustained (July 24, 2025)
July 18, 2025Trump sues Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over Epstein birthday letter storyUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Lawsuits against the pressDonald TrumpOngoing
July 18, 2025Congress cuts $1.1 billion in federal funding for public broadcastingUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Funding and ownership pressureDonald TrumpSustained (July 24, 2025)
July 1, 2025United States: Paramount settlement of Donald Trump's lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview, July 2025United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Lawsuits against the pressDonald TrumpSustained (July 1, 2025)
June 9, 2025Officer shoots Australian journalist with rubber bullet during Los Angeles immigration protestsUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Detention and violenceKaren BassUnknown
May 1, 2025United States: Executive Order 14290 directing an end to federal funding for NPR and PBS, May 2025United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Funding and ownership pressureDonald TrumpUnknown
April 25, 2025United States: Department of Justice rescission of rules limiting subpoenas of journalists, April 2025United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasDonald TrumpSustained (April 25, 2025)
April 22, 202560 Minutes executive producer resigns, citing lost editorial independenceUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Funding and ownership pressureDonald TrumpSustained (April 22, 2025)
April 15, 2025White House ends wire services' guaranteed seat in the press poolUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansDonald TrumpSustained
March 15, 2025United States: U.S. Agency for Global Media action to shut down Voice of America operations, March 2025United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Funding and ownership pressureDonald TrumpOngoing (March 28, 2025)
February 25, 2025United States: White House takes over selection of the presidential press pool, February 2025United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansDonald TrumpSustained (September 22, 2026)
February 11, 2025United States: White House exclusion of the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One, February 2025United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansDonald TrumpOngoing (July 22, 2025)
February 6, 2025Border czar Tom Homan says ICE media ride-alongs may end over leaksUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansDonald TrumpUnknown
January 31, 2025United States (Louisiana): Federal court order blocking enforcement of the police buffer zone law, January 2025United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansJeff LandryOngoing (January 31, 2025)
January 22, 2025FCC chair reopens 'news distortion' complaints against CBS and NBCUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Funding and ownership pressureDonald TrumpOngoing
January 1, 2025United States (Florida): Halo Law buffer zone around first responders, January 2025United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansRon DeSantisSustained (January 1, 2025)
December 16, 2024Trump sues Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer over final Iowa pollUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Lawsuits against the pressDonald TrumpOngoing (July 10, 2026)
May 24, 2024United States (Louisiana): 25-foot buffer zone law around police officers, May 2024United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansJeff LandryOngoing (January 31, 2025)
August 11, 2023Police raid Marion County Record newsroom and publisher's home in KansasUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasLaura KellyReversed (August 5, 2024)
July 21, 2023Federal court strikes down Arizona's law banning recording police within 8 feetUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansDoug DuceyReversed (July 21, 2023)
November 6, 2021FBI raids Project Veritas founder's home over Ashley Biden diary investigationUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasJoe BidenUnknown
July 19, 2021Justice Department bars seizing reporters' phone and email recordsUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasJoe BidenReversed (April 25, 2025)
September 12, 2020Political appointees alter CDC coronavirus guidance before public releaseUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Prior restraintDonald TrumpUnknown
July 23, 2020Federal officers restrict press access to Portland protests; judge orders them to stopUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansDonald TrumpReversed (July 23, 2020)
May 29, 2020Minneapolis police projectile permanently blinds photojournalist Linda TiradoUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Detention and violenceJacob FreySustained (May 26, 2022)
May 29, 2020Minnesota State Patrol arrests CNN crew live on air in MinneapolisUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Detention and violenceTim WalzReversed (May 29, 2020)
May 23, 2019United States indicts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the Espionage ActUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Secrets and espionage lawsDonald TrumpReversed (June 25, 2024)
November 7, 2018White House revokes CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press credential after a news conference exchange with President TrumpUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Credential controlDonald TrumpReversed (November 19, 2018)
November 7, 2018United States: White House suspension of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's hard pass, November 2018United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Credential controlDonald TrumpReversed (November 19, 2018)
October 17, 2014United States pursues New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony for years before dropping its demand for his sourceUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasBarack ObamaReversed (October 17, 2014)
October 10, 2013United States: Espionage Act prosecutions of sources for leaks to the press, 2009 to 2013United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Secrets and espionage lawsBarack ObamaUnknown
May 20, 2013United States search warrant names Fox News reporter James Rosen a possible co-conspirator in a leak caseUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasBarack ObamaSustained (July 12, 2013)
May 13, 2013United States Justice Department secretly seizes two months of Associated Press phone recordsUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasBarack ObamaSustained (July 12, 2013)
January 25, 2013United States prosecutes former CIA officer John Kiriakou under the Espionage Act for identifying a covert colleague to a journalistUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Secrets and espionage lawsBarack ObamaUpheld by a court (February 3, 2015)
July 5, 2010United States charges Army analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act for leaking to WikiLeaksUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Secrets and espionage lawsBarack ObamaReversed (January 17, 2017)
July 6, 2005New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed for refusing to name a confidential source in the Valerie Plame affairUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasGeorge W. BushUpheld by a court (September 29, 2005)
February 10, 2003Pentagon sets ground rules for journalists embedded with United States forces in IraqUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansGeorge W. BushSustained (April 14, 2003)
January 17, 1991United States military restricts reporters to escorted press pools during the Gulf WarUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansGeorge H. W. BushSustained (February 28, 1991)
October 25, 1983United States military bars journalists from the invasion of GrenadaUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansRonald ReaganReversed (April 1, 1985)
September 9, 1971United States: Nixon White House "enemies list" naming journalists, September 1971United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasRichard NixonUnknown
August 16, 1971Nixon White House compiles an enemies list naming journalists for official pressureUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasRichard NixonReversed (June 27, 1973)
June 15, 1971United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon PapersUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Prior restraintRichard NixonReversed (June 30, 1971)
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