By Society of Professional Journalists – February 21, 2025
Dear SPJ Member, The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) led a coalition of more than 40 organizations that champion journalists and the public’s right to know in releasing a joint statement condemning the campaign underway in Washington to penalize independent reporting on the government and its activities. The statement, released this morning, calls on the Trump administration to lift its ban on the Associated Press from White House events and cease punishing news organizations based on their reporting. “When leaders try to silence reporters through intimidation, legal threats and denial of access, they are not protecting the country; they are protecting themselves from scrutiny. This is how authoritarian regimes operate — by crushing dissent, punishing those who expose inconvenient facts and replacing truth with propaganda,” the statement says. Here is the full statement and a list of all the signatories:Joint statement of journalist-support organizations on government attacks on press freedom Fair, accurate and independent reporting is essential to a functioning democracy. Without it, corruption and misinformation flourish. As organizations that champion journalists and the public’s right to know, we strongly condemn the campaign underway in Washington to penalize independent reporting on the government and its activities. In a protracted war over words, the Trump administration has banned the Associated Press from White House events because the news service continues to call the “Gulf of Mexico” by its long-standing name while acknowledging the president’s executive order renaming it the “Gulf of America.” This disturbing challenge to journalistic independence is part of a troubling pattern that extends well beyond the White House press corps. For example, the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission has taken extraordinary steps to investigate and intimidate broadcasters over their internal policies and constitutionally protected editorial decisions. These actions by the head of this historically bipartisan, independent regulatory body set a dangerous precedent and risk giving the government greater control over which voices are heard. The administration also has evicted longtime news organizations from the Pentagon pressroom, giving their desks to news outlets that favorably covered the administration’s agenda. President Trump and his congressional allies have long opposed what they viewed as government efforts to coerce speech. In 2023, for example. U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan and 44 other members of Congress said as much in a brief submitted in a U.S. Supreme Court case in which conservatives accused the Biden administration of coercing social media platforms to adopt pro-COVID vaccine policies. That brief in Murthy v. Missouri stated, “Official pressure to suppress speech violates the First Amendment.” When leaders try to silence reporters through intimidation, legal threats and denial of access, they are not protecting the country; they are protecting themselves from scrutiny. This is how authoritarian regimes operate — by crushing dissent, punishing those who expose inconvenient facts and replacing truth with propaganda. The First Amendment is an integral part of the U.S. Constitution that President Trump swore to “preserve, protect and defend.” He also signed an executive order on day one to “ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.” The president must abide by his oath of office and executive order and ensure that First Amendment principles are forcefully upheld. In a nation founded on freedom of speech, regardless of party or ideology, the government can never compel agreement with its viewpoint as a condition of access to information. The administration must lift the ban on AP. And the administration must cease punishing news organizations based on their reporting. Society of Professional Journalists AAN Publishers (formerly Association of Alternative Newsmedia) American Society of Magazine Editors Asian American Journalists Association Associated Collegiate Press Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Buffalo Newspaper Guild – CWA Local 31026 Criminal Justice Journalists Defending Rights & Dissent Denver Newspaper Guild – CWA Local 37074 Education Writers Association Freedom of the Press Foundation Inter American Press Association (IAPA) IAPE, Local 1096, TNG-CWA Indigenous Journalists Association iSolon.orgJournalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) Military Reporters & Editors National Association of Black Journalists National Association of Hispanic Journalists National Association of Science Writers National Federation of Press Women National Press Photographers Association National Scholastic Press Association National Writers Union NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists New Hampshire NewsGuild Online News Association Project Censored Public Media Journalists Association Quill and Scroll Radio Television Digital News Association Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) Society of Environmental Journalists The Association of Health Care Journalists The Media Guild of the West – CWA Local 39213The NewsGuild-CWA The News Media Guild, Local 31222, TNG-CWA (union representing AP journalists) The NewsGuild of New York The NewsGuild of Philadelphia TNG-CWA Local 38010 Toledo NewsGuild, CWA Local 34043 Washington-Baltimore News Guild These are especially trying times for journalists and open government advocates. But we want you to know SPJ is doing all it can to help meet the challenges. It is through partnerships with like-minded organizations such as the ones listed above that we can have some of the greatest impact. And none of this could be done without you. We appreciate your continued membership and support of SPJ. Thank you for believing in a free press.I Invest in journalism and support our mission to protect it. |
Editor’s Note: I am a member of the SPJ.
