Minneapolis Journalists Attacked

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Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff, 1/20/26

Headline:  “Attacks on journalists in Minnesota cap Trump’s first year back in office”

“Federal agents and officials are increasingly targeting journalists in the state of Minnesota covering widespread protests against the government’s sweeping immigration crackdown. At least six journalists have been violently attacked by agents in the state’s twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul since the start of the new year. Federal officials have also threatened independent journalist Don Lemon with criminal charges for his reporting on a protest inside a church. The attacks cap Donald Trump’s first year back in office, which has been defined by his explosive war on press freedom. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/attacks-journalists-minnesota-cap-trump-s-first-year-back-office

Venezuelan Media – Same Old

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Carolina Abbott Galvao & Ivan L. Nagy, 1/16/26

Headline:  “For Venezuelan Journalists, It’s Like Maduro Never Left”

Subhead:  ” ‘If you have contacts or sensitive information that you’re not supposed to have, you could be thrown in jail.’ “

“. . .This is less a function of recent American interference than business as usual. Under the leadership of Hugo Chávez, through Nicolás Maduro’s tenure to today, official narratives have echoed across state-controlled TV, radio, and print media; authorities have declined visas for foreign journalists to enter the country; independent news outlets are banned and accessible only via VPN. In the week following the US incursion, police, military forces, and colectivos—pro-government paramilitaries—roamed the streets, cracking down on protesters, members of the opposition, and independent journalists. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/for-venezuelan-journalists-its-like-maduro-never-left.php

Searching Reporter’s House Portends?

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Article in Chicago Defender by Konstantin Zhukov, 1/14/26

Headline: “Searching reporters’ homes, suing journalists and repressing citizen dissent are well-known steps toward autocracy”

“The FBI search of a Washington Post reporter’s home on Jan. 14, 2026, was a rare and intimidating move by an administration focused on repressing criticism and dissent.

“In its story about the search at Hannah Natanson’s home, at which FBI agents said they were searching for materials related to a federal government employee, Washington Post reporter Perry Stein wrote that ‘[it is highly unusual and aggressive for law enforcement to conduct a search on a reporter’s home.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://chicagodefender.com/searching-reporters-homes-suing-journalists-and-repressing-citizen-dissent-are-well-known-steps-toward-autocracy/

Journalists, Don’t be Intimidated!

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Article in The New Republic by Felipe La Hoz, 1/19/26

Headline:  “The Crisis Year for Journalism Is Here”

Subhead:  “Journalists have an inherent right and professional duty to defend their industry and its mission against those who want to derail it—even when those threats are coming from the inside.”

“. . .In-depth reporting is difficult work. It’s not easy to unearth hidden information on the one hand and parse avalanches of it on the other—much of it offered in bad faith—on deadline, especially as newsrooms have shrunk in tandem with the growth and entrenchment of PR and spin. . .”

“As increasingly emboldened interests amp up efforts to buy, sue, steal from, and use official power to coerce the news media into submission, we have to embrace a self-defense posture that won’t interfere with our news gathering but will acknowledge that we can’t continue news gathering if we’ve been knocked over by the powers we’re meant to hold accountable. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/205099/journalists-right-self-defense-cbs

Hope For Local News?

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Article in The New York Times by Sarabeth Berman, 1/18/26

Headline:  “Local Newspapers Are Closing. Local News Is Surviving.”

“The consequences of the collapse of the local newspaper business have been severe. When communities lose their local news outlets, civic engagement drops, corruption rises, government waste increases and political polarization worsens. Communities no longer know themselves. No number of headlines about goings-on in Washington can change that. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/opinion/local-newspapers-closing.html

Community Radio Back in St. Louis

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Headline:  “Community Radio St. Louis Goes Live February 1”

Subhead:  “Over 60 former KDHX volunteers plus new broadcasters will revive local music and arts services online”

“At noon Central time on Sunday, February 1, 2026, eclectic music and perspectives will once again beam into St. Louis and around the world from a new all-volunteer internet station, Community Radio St. Louis (CRSTL). Commercial-free webcasting from CRSTL.FM will revive the strong grassroots voice supporting regional culture that was silenced last year by the radio frequency sale and demise of KDHX-FM. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.crstl.fm/

US and Censorship Attempts

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Article in Techdirt and Free Press by by Mike Masnick and Nora Benavidez, 1/16/26

Headline:  “Trump’s ‘Free Speech’ Presidency Racked Up 200 Censorship Attempts In Its First Year”

“We’ve said it before, and we’ll keep saying it because apparently it needs repeating: Donald Trump is not a free speech president. He just plays one on TV while doing the exact opposite behind the scenes. And in front of the scenes. And basically everywhere. Over and over and over again. . .”

Read the full articles at:

https://www.techdirt.com/2026/01/16/trumps-free-speech-presidency-racked-up-200-censorship-attempts-in-its-first-year/

. . .and:

https://www.freepress.net/news/trumps-free-speech-presidency-racked-200-censorship-attempts-its-first-year

The Press Says, “Search Me?”

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Article in The Washington Post by Kathleen Parker, 1/16/26

Headline:  “Attacks on the press? America’s seen this before.”

Subhead:  “A history of government vs. the media, from the Pentagon Papers to Obama”

“The FBI’s early wake-up call at a Washington Post reporter’s Virginia home and subsequent seizure of her phone and two laptops has sent chills through the Fourth Estate.

“Even non-journalists should be worried by what happened to Hannah Natanson, who found FBI agents at her front door at 6 a.m. Wednesday, wielding a search warrant. . .”

“Even though we’re accustomed to President Donald Trump’s contempt for the “fake” media, this unusually aggressive act felt Gestapo-like.  . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/01/16/post-fbi-press-freedom-hannah-natanson/

– – – – –

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Riddhi Setty, 1/16/26

Headline: ” ‘A Trauma That You Carry’ “

Subhead:  “An unprecedented attack on press freedom at the Washington Post.“

“. . .’ “You don’t just get over the federal government banging on your door at six in the morning,’ Burke said of the Natanson case. Two years later, much of his equipment remains in the FBI’s possession. . .”

“Journalists who have been targeted by government searches or surveillance said the Natanson incident reflects an alarming escalation of the Trump White House’s hostility toward the media. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/a-trauma-that-you-carry-washington-post-wapo-hannah-natanson-press-freedom-device-search-seizure-trump.php

Media Intimidation Fails

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Article in The Daily Beast by Hugh Dougherty, 1/16/26

Headline: “Trump’s Campaign Manager Ditches Lawsuit Against Daily Beast“

Subhead: “Chris LaCivita wanted “triple damages” and got no money or apology.”

“Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign manager has ditched a lawsuit against the Daily Beast.

“Chris LaCivita, who co-managed Trump’s election victory with Susie Wiles, discontinued his lawsuit on a Friday night before a federal holiday, despite having initially posted on X: ‘F— Around Find Out,’ and boasting, ‘I’m really looking forward to making my case in front of a jury.’

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-campaign-manager-ditches-lawsuit-against-daily-beast/

Right Media Escalate Conflict?

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel & Sophie Lawton

Headline:  “Right-wing media are describing pro-immigrant Minnesota activists using the language of war”

Subhead:  ” ‘Civil war,’ ‘insurgents,’ ‘a guerilla tactical playbook’ — these are just some of the ways MAGA pundits are describing civil resistance to Trump’s ICE rampages”

“Right-wing media figures and outlets are using the language of war to characterize protests against the presence of violent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota. . .”

“While some in right-wing media have referred to anti-ICE demonstrations as an “insurrection” since at least October, the overall tenor of right-wing rhetoric has escalated dramatically in recent days. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/immigration/right-wing-media-are-describing-pro-immigrant-minnesota-activists-using-language-war