Journalists Injured by Police While Covering George Floyd Protests are Winning Large Settlements

Nine days after George Floyd’s death, the American Civil Liberties Union posted a story characterizing the attacks on journalists covering the protests as a “full-scale assault on the First Amendment freedom of the press.” Lawsuits were filed and we detail the top three settlements this year obtained by journalists and a citizen documenting the protests.

New Report Shows Acute Rise in Arrests of Journalists in the U.S.

Drawing on data collected by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, the report showed at least 117 verified cases of journalists arrested in 2020. The number represents a 1200% increase from 2019 when only nine cases were confirmed.

The U.S. Is Now A Less Safe Place For Journalists

A newly released annual report by Reporter Without Borders, called the “World Press Freedom Index,” reveals a disheartening state of freedom of the press around the globe—including in the U.S. “The number of countries regarded as safe, where journalists can work in complete security, continues to decline, while authoritarian regimes continue to tighten their grip on the media,” the report says. The United States has now become a less safe place for journalists, ranking at No. 48 out of the 180 countries and territories on the list.