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| A screenshot of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker |
Earlier this year, the
U.S. Freedom Tracker was launched to serve as a central database to track our countries freedom and specifically focuses on attacks on the press. It tracks the number of arrests of journalists, the number of equipment searches and seizers, the number of physically attacks on journalists, and the number of border stops of journalists. It is explained in an article written by Bianca Fortis, "As concerns about domestic press freedom violations grow, a coalition of media partners has created a database to track those violations" (Fortis 2017). The tracker will be operated by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, but is a collaborative project from around twenty media partners. The database primarily focuses on the government interference with the press, including those actions by the Trump administration, as well as local elected officials and police departments. The U.S. Freedom Tracker also presents featured incidents on the main page that relate to the numbers that are being tracked as well as recent incidents, so you can remain up-to-date with news related to these types of issues focused on. Readers can also 'submit an incident' on issues of freedom of the press.
- Question for Reader: Do you think the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker provides helpful information?
Hi Heather, Thanks for posting about this, I found it interesting to go to the site and read about the accounts of infringement on freedom of the press. After doing the exercise in our discussion post about the United States ranking in freedom of the press this is a good site to read and see where we are falling short. Again, thanks for sharing, I had never heard of this project and found it interesting and look forward to seeing how the numbers change throughout the remainder of this year and next.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea and is something that can be eye opening to many. I believe that because we have "freedom of the press" many Americans forget about some of the limitations we have on the press and don't realize many of the things that go on. I think this is a great find and can provide some really interesting info.
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