Alan Fernando Herrera Sánchez

Decision to Leave If I were still in the U.S., I can almost feel it: a hand would reach into my pocket, fingers grazing a birth certificate, a passport card, tokens of belonging made meaningless.

My latest: alanfherrera.substack.com/p/decision-t...

"He spoke as Trujillo once did, with the authority of fear, the kind that bent a nation until nearly every family bore its loss—someone killed or vanished, tortured or exiled."

Proud of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents, for which I lead editorial operations, for joining this powerful and necessary statement. You always have an ally in me @freedom.press!

As a founding board member of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States (though in the interest of trasparency, I stepped down to lead editorial operations for our org), I am so proud to join you in this fight and to have shared this with our audience.

A deplorable decision but absolutely part of a wider plan to crush dissent. The administration and its surrogates are already limiting access to Pentagon info—the safety of journalists will take a hit. There is no presumption of innocence and no respect for the work they do in this environment.

Straight-up. The disinformation machine is in full swing to justify the wider implementation of a police state. The Trump regime is just pushing, pushing, pushing to see who will take the bait.

This is precisely what is happening and what anyone who paid attention for the last decade knew would happen. I came very close to getting arrested by ICE myself and took matters into my own hands and left swiftly. It's horrific watching all this from abroad, albeit from a safe place.

Considering I fled them myself... I couldn't agree more. Horrific what's going on, all of it. And even more sickening to watch what's happening from abroad.

Abundantly clear to anyone who's paid attention to this saga from the beginning... to say nothing of the last decade. How depressing to see this all coming to fruition but I'm glad organizations like yours and CPJ and RSF (and mine, AFPC-USA) are leading the fight.

A Cure for Longing: Living Between Two Worlds After Fleeing America I feel caught between an alternate reality and the heavy burden of concern for those in New York and beyond.

My latest: substack.com/home/post/p-...

"I feel caught between an alternate reality and the heavy burden of concern for those in New York and beyond. ... There is a pain I wake to when I think of people I may never see again. There is a guilt in forming new friendships under these circumstances."

A Quiet Holiday, An Uneasy Peace Who do you talk to when you’re torn from your home even while life in the U.S. still goes on, for most, as normal? How do you communicate the legitimacy of these horrors?

My latest: substack.com/home/post/p-...

"My day-to-day concerns are not about evading ICE arrest—not anymore. I am now tasked with taking into account certain customs, with remembering, in a nation where I am largely anonymous, that God’s word can be a conversation starter."

This self-censorship undermines the press’ role in providing an accurate portrayal of current events and weakens the democratic function of a free press. Ensuring press freedom means upholding journalists' rights to report without fear of retribution or undue influence.

The impact on journalists’ safety goes beyond individual well-being; it affects the very fabric of press freedom. When journalists feel intimidated or fear for their safety, they may avoid covering certain stories or censor their work to avoid backlash.

Mario Guevara's case is just a sign of what's to come. You can count on the Trump admin to use ICE to deal further blows to press freedom. The press should anticipate and will have to respond accordingly to a wider crackdown on journalists, truth-tellers, dissenters, citizens and non-citizens alike.

This is precisely why being a student of history is so important. Those of us who've paid attention clearly see that this won't end well won't for them. It never does. Bravo to your team for your excellent work as advocates. The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents stands with you.

A horrific abuse of press freedom in plain sight. The US government cannot be trusted to safeguard these rights and the case against Guevara is only a taste of how the administration plans to employ ICE as part of a wider crackdown on political dissent. #FreeMario

Roughly Half of Counties Have One Local News Outlet or Less The number of nonprofit news outlets is holding steady but 203 counties are news deserts, leaving thousands of communities without access to local news.

2023 stats, for reference: www.governing.com/management-a....

The more connected Americans feel to their communities, the more satisfied they are with their local political news coverage. Americans who are more attached to their communities find it easier to find voting information, likely correlating with how many local news outlets still exist in their area.

In 2023 alone, more than 130 local newspapers closed or merged and now around 56% of counties in the US have one or fewer local news outlets. These developments contribute to a sense of detachment some feel toward their local communities—culminating in a general disinterest in local news altogether.

@freedom.press @onefreepress.bsky.social @pressfreedom.bsky.social @mediaanddemocracy.bsky.social

AFPC-USA Responds to the Imminent Deportation of Journalist Mario Guevara — FOREIGN PRESS "History will not protect those abusers who believe they can act with impunity,” said Chairwoman Nancy Prager-Kamel.

On the subject of Mario Guevara's ICE arrest, the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA has published a statement of its own that I encourage you to share widely: "Press freedom cannot exist where journalists are punished for telling the truth."

foreignpress.org/news-stateme...

People around the US are living in an information environment w/ fewer local alternatives and will have no option other than national news and social media for information and that ultimately does local stories a disservice; they are footnotes on national news, though no less real to those impacted.

I encourage all journalists to read and take to heart. I also encourage journalists to revist @pressfreedom.bsky.social's Safety Kit. Preparing and knowing what to do in the case of an arrest or detainment is tantamount to a journalist’s personal safety and should be considered part of job training.

Both are openly colluding with the Trump administration in the FCC's attempts to silence one of POTUS' more prominent critics. It is dishonest for Carr's supporters to call these simple "business decisions" when POTUS literally just threatened ABC w/ more legal action for letting Kimmel back on.

What ICE has done to this man is unconscionable. Grateful an organization like @pressfreedom.bsky.social exists to bring these horrors to light and demand accountability. The organization has been firing with all cylinders under the leadership of Jodie Ginsberg.

100 percent. I'd have been lost without Turner Classic Movies, I swear.

Of course they are. ICE is a modern-day Gestapo, the crowning jewel of Trump's police state apparatus. I feel for these people. As a student of history, it is abundantly clear what this is - part of a genocidal campaign. The Trump admin's attacks against trans people are also an extension of this.

Another classic! Greer Garson was such a talent - she is sorely underappreciated these days. I first fell in love with her in "Pride and Prejudice." Is it the best version of this classic story? No - but she and Laurence Olivier are magical together, that's for certain.

Unfortunately, yes. Other countries will have to shore up their defenses - education is key. Now would be a great time to bolster science education initatives. I also believe these measures are ultimately designed to keep Americans in - who's going to want them? I left recently, thankfully.

A classic. One of many I watched when weird classic sci-fi and horror flicks would play on Turner Classic Movies. "It Came from Beneath the Sea" was another favorite.

It's quite simple. Sinclair and Nextstar know exactly what they're doing and they're both contributing greatly to the environment of permissibility that embolden attacks against free speech.