Stephanie Sugars

If you're a journalist who has experienced an arrest, assault or other aggression, @pressfreedomtracker.us can document your experience anonymously. Contact me through Signal at ssugars.01.

YouTube video by Freedom of the Press Foundation The Demise of Indian Time

Thanks to everyone who tuned into our conversation about the demise of one of America’s oldest Indigenous newspapers, and a special thanks to our panelists: @isaacwhitereporter.bsky.social, Marjorie Skidders, @seth-stern.bsky.social, and @stephaniesugars.bsky.social.

Miss it? Watch it below ⬇️

🔔 Join us tomorrow for a conversation about the demise of one of America’s oldest Indigenous newspapers, featuring
@isaacwhitereporter.bsky.social, Marjorie Skidders, @seth-stern.bsky.social, and @stephaniesugars.bsky.social.

🕒 Noon EDT/9 a.m. PDT

RSVP: freedom.press/end-of-india...

Journalists are facing attacks, both digital and physical As dozens of journalists faced assault and arrest on the streets of LA and beyond, President Trump’s unrelenting anti-press rhetoric online reached a 10-year milestone.

While journalists face threats covering national protests spurred by Trump’s immigration policy, the president has persisted in online attacks on the media.

This and more in our Tracker newsletter from Managing Editor @kamccudden.bsky.social and Senior Reporter @stephaniesugars.bsky.social:

Today marks 10 years since Trump's escalator descent, and the start of my dataset of his anti-press social posts. The collection of 3,500 entries and growing provides a stark reminder that the rhetoric our leaders use matters and that it's vital to keep watch.

My latest for @pressfreedomtracker.us:

1/ Now a week into California protests in response to immigration raids, here’s what we’re working on documenting at the Tracker — At least 50 incidents of violence or other types of aggressions against journalists, mostly by law enforcement, and some targeting of news cars, mostly by individuals:

The reporter documenting 10 years of Trump’s anti-media posts Since Trump’s first term as president, Sugars has managed an extensive database that documents each and every anti-media post from Trump. In them, Trump sometimes attacks individual journalists. Other...

Trump "is consolidating narrative power and asserting that he is the ultimate, if not singular, conveyor of what is actually true, which, to no one’s surprise, is what is most favorable to him," @pressfreedomtracker.us's @stephaniesugars.bsky.social tells @liamjscott.bsky.social.

On social media, Trump targets the press on average once a day — for 10 years and counting Behind a decade of attacks on the media lies Trump’s strategy of control.

Monday marks 10 years since Trump's escalator descent, and the start of my dataset of his anti-press social posts. Nearly 3,500 entries and growing, it provides not just a historical archive but also an urgent warning: The rhetoric our leaders use matters.

My latest for @pressfreedomtracker.us:

Southlander cofounder and journalist @bencamach0.bsky.social was shot twice — in the knee and elbow — with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in the LA suburbs of Compton and Paramount June 7: pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incident...

Hey, journalists covering LA protests —

In light of multiple attacks against reporters, find here in this thread resources to help you prepare yourself for covering protests, protecting yourself in the field, and getting the help you need.

Share and bookmark.

UPDATE: Nick is in good spirits and recovering in hospital. The doctor told me the injury was so bad that they treated it as if it were a gunshot wound. Part of a stun grenade traveled deep into the tissue and was only visible by a cat scan. He sends his love and appreciation for all the support.

Just 100 days into Trump’s second term, he and his allies have launched a multipronged campaign against journalists, media organizations and their sources, pushing a narrative that questions the legitimacy of critical reporting and seeks to suppress dissenting voices.

Read my latest:

Trump is restricting White House press access. It’s not the first time In cherry-picking who can cover him, Trump is limiting White House access to only those willing to stoop to his demands

Trump’s shunning of newsrooms is part of a playbook designed to test the limits of the First Amendment.

We spoke to former White House correspondent @briankarem.bsky.social and U.S. Press Tracker Senior Reporter @stephaniesugars.bsky.social to learn more.

Join us for an urgent discussion on the AP ban, White House press pool, and other attacks on the press by the Trump administration, featuring @briankarem.bsky.social, @stephaniesugars.bsky.social, and @caitlinvogus.bsky.social.

🗓️ April 16, 2pm ET/11am PT

freedom.press/access-denied

Understanding every one of Signal’s identifiers We’ve heard some questions about the difference between Signal usernames, phone numbers, profile names, profiles, and nicknames. Let’s talk about it.

Make sure you’re inviting the right person to your Signal group!

To help confirm someone’s identity and keep track of your contacts, @signal.org offers nicknames and information about the groups you share in common with your contacts.

Learn about Signal’s identifiers:

The Last Days at Voice of America Covering the press freedom beat at VOA, I got a front-row seat to its demise.

"On Saturday... VOA’s final broadcast went out; its website was updated one last time. For the first time since its creation, in 1942, to combat Nazi propaganda, VOA went silent." - insights from @liamjscott.bsky.social

THIS MATTER having come before this Court on the verified Petition of the City of Clarksdale requesting a temporary restraining order or a hearing on a preliminary injunction and after review of the verified Petition and Attorney Certification, the Court finds that the Petition is well taken. The injury in this case is defamation against public figures through actual malice in reckless disregard of the truth and interferes with their legitimate function to advocate for legislation they believe would help their municipality during this current legislative cycle. The Respondents are well aware of the accusations against them as they have already received a draft of the verified Petition and further notice is not needed until such hearing. The Temporary Restraining Order for Respondents to remove the article "EDITORIAL: SECRECY AND DECEPTION ERODE PUBLIC TRUST" from their online portals and make it inaccessible to the public is hereby granted. Petitioner shall post a bond in the amount of $100.00 as security for any damages that Defendant may incur should it be determined that this Temporary Restraining Order was wrongfully issued. This Court further orders that a hearing on the City of Clarksdale's request for a preliminary injunction is hereby set for February 27, 2025, at 9:30 am

(Conclusion of the court order.)

Wow: City of Clarksdale, Mississippi got a court order yesterday directing a newspaper to delete an editorial criticizing city officials -- without a hearing. Here's the TRO issuing the prior restraint:

A page of 52 thumbnail images of government websites that are no longer available.

Effective and creative data visualization in the form of a full page piece in the WaPo today to show how Trump/Musk are dismantling government.

U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s Stephanie Sugars on Protests, Police and the Press - First Amendment Watch Sugars discussed the considerations that are made in including detainments or arrests and the often tumultuous relationship between police and the press.

Check out this First Amendment Watch interview with @pressfreedomtracker.us' Senior Reporter @stephaniesugars.bsky.social about the Tracker's annual arrest report and threats journalists faced in 2024.

Just going to reiterate -

We are on this bot problem. We shall fight them on the beaches. We shall fight them in the signup process, we shall fight them in the notifications

Charges — and punishments — for J6 rioters who hurt journalists, damaged news equipment While documenting the large mob in front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, photographer John Minchillo was grabbed …

Four years on from the insurrection at the Capitol, and we've never stopped tracking justice for the 18 journalists assaulted in DC on Jan. 6, 2021. It's all kept here by @uspresstracker.bsky.social :

pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/charges...

Israel invaded Syria and destroyed most of its military capabilities within 48 hours of Assad regime's fall — my latest @theguardian.com

The effects are going to be felt especially harshly by journalists in small towns and rural areas, where brazen local officials and looser protections conspire to hamper and criminalize routine journalism. For example, look at what happened in Atmore, Alabama, and Marion County, Kansas, last year.

📽️ WATCH: Our Senior Reporter @stephaniesugars.bsky.social breaks down the Tracker’s annual report on journalists’ arrests in the U.S. in 2024:

- 48 arrests or detentions of journalists
- Nearly 90% took place around Israel-Gaza war protests
- 23 were at the hands of NYPD

This year was decidedly a "protest year" and saw a surge in arrests and detentions of journalists. The @pressfreedomtracker.us covered 48 such cases in 2024 — more than the previous two years combined — making it the third-highest count since we began cataloging in 2017 (1st: 2020, 2nd: 2021).

Join @pressfreedomtracker.us on Reddit today at 12:30 p.m. ET for an AMA with Senior Reporter @stephaniesugars.bsky.social and Managing Editor @kamccudden.bsky.social.

Ask us about our annual arrest report and threats to press freedom journalists faced this year.
www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comme...

The team! @freedom.press

be very aware of what signal does and does not promise in privacy

read the docs

but i can assure you (a) the most paranoid geeks review everything signal does and it stands up (b) ordinary journalists can use it in confidence

and it's really very usable

Trump will try to destroy press freedom. We won’t let him Trump’s anti-press agenda is an existential threat to the Fourth Estate

We’ve been here before, and we’ve fought back before.

Don’t let Trump jail journalists and trample the First Amendment.