The fence is down

"This year, more than 165 journalists were assaulted in the United States. That's more than the last two years combined. Only 10 of those assaults were not by law enforcement, and a staggering 88% came while journalists reported from protests related to the Trump administration's immigration policies. The Trump administration also persists with its multifaceted assault on the media - restricting access, cutting federal funding, launching investigations into journalists, and aggressively targeting leakers."

"At the end of 2023, I wrote in these pages an analogy of how the velociraptors in "Jurassic Park" systematically tested the electric fences in the park's enclosure for weaknesses and how, across the United States, we had seen government officials doing the same testing for weaknesses in the First Amendment's press protection clause. I declined to write a prediction at the end of 2024; as voters, we had collectively elected to turn off the park's safety grid,"

More than 165 journalists were assaulted in the United States in 2025, exceeding the combined totals of the previous two years. Only 10 assaults were not carried out by law enforcement, and 88% occurred while journalists reported from protests tied to the Trump administration's immigration policies. Of 32 arrests or detainments of journalists in 2025, 28 occurred while covering protests. The administration restricted access, cut federal funding, launched investigations into journalists, and aggressively targeted leakers. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker recorded widespread, swift aggressions against reporters and newsgathering. A Jurassic World Rebirth analogy portrays the electric fence safeguarding the free press as down and velociraptors arriving, with newsgathering thwarted and criminalized, making responses to the attacks the primary focus.

Read at Nieman Lab