By Committee To Protect Journalists
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
Last month brought concerning developments for press freedom as well as bright spots, including the release of kidnapped American journalist Shelly Kittleson in Iraq, and the release of a Tennessee-based journalist from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.
Read more below about how CPJ continues to build coalitions to advocate for press freedom and push back against government overreach in its myriad forms.
Journalist Estefany Rodríguez released from ICE detention
After spending over two weeks in ICE detention, Tennessee-based journalist Estefany Rodríguez was released on a $10,000 bond following advocacy efforts from CPJ and partner organizations. Rodríguez arrived in the U.S. in 2021 to seek asylum following threats she received working as a journalist in her native Colombia.
A reporter with the local Spanish-language news outlet Nashville Notícias, Rodríguez is the second community journalist to be held in ICE detention in relation to their work. Rodríguez’s case points to a larger effort by the Trump administration to use immigration authorities to police speech.
Shelly Kittleson, an award-winning freelance journalist with experience in conflict zones, was freed Tuesday after being kidnapped by an Iran-allied militia in Iraq’s capital city, Baghdad, on March 31. The militia group, Kataib Hezbollah, said that Kittleson must leave Iraq immediately.
CPJ, Reporters Without Borders and the Foley Foundation sent a joint letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the U.S. government to secure Kittleson’s immediate, safe release. CPJ released a statement celebrating Kittleson’s release.
FCC approves merger, consolidating media ownership
CPJ condemned the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) approval of a merger between broadcast companies Nexstar and Tegna — in clear violation of its own norms and regulation — as a bid by the Trump administration to allow the outsized control of media outlets.
Upon the merger’s completion, Nexstar will reach 80 percent of US households, giving it an outsized role in what reaches American TV audiences.
“We have seen from our work around the world that corporate consolidation of media, especially at the local level, severely hampers access to information that is in the public interest,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg.
Read more on the press freedom impact of media consolidation.
Access issues, the Pentagon edition
The Pentagon and the New York Times are still locked in a court battle over media access. A federal judge last month called the Pentagon’s media policy changes “weird” and Kafkaesque, and questioned recent changes to the Pentagon’s policy after a federal court ruled that the Pentagon’s previous credentialing process violates the First Amendment.
This is the latest in a larger pattern from the Trump administration to restrict reporters’ access. In response, CPJ has condemned the restrictions; joined an amicus brief in support of the New York Times; wrote a letter to the U.S. Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public affairs warning that limiting press access suppresses freedom of speech; and continues to push members of Congress to advocate for restored access for journalists.
CPJ in the spotlight
Research, reporting, and advocacy in the news from CPJ’s team covering the Américas region:
- CPJ Américas Regional Director José Zamora on the authoritarian-style playbook in Center for News, Technology and Innovation (Center for News, Technology and Innovation)
- CPJ Américas Regional Director José Zamora speaks with Univision about Estefany Rodríguez’s case (Univision, Spanish)
- CPJ U.S. Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen in conversation with veteran AP reporter and the National Press Club on press freedom in the United States (The National Press Club)
