Press Freedom Watch

Department of Homeland Security proposes limits for visas for foreign journalists

The Department of Homeland Security proposed a new rule limiting the amount of time foreign journalists working in the United States on a media visa can stay in the country. The visa, known as an I visa, allows journalists working for foreign media companies to travel to and report on events in the U.S. They are generally valid for the duration of the journalist’s work assignment in the country. Under the new rule, journalists would only be permitted to stay in the country for up to 240 days. At the end of that period, they can then extend their visa for up to 240 more days but no longer than the length of their assignment. Journalists from China would be limited to a 90 day period. In proposing the rule, President Donald Trump’s administration aims to require foreign journalists to routinely undergo DHS assessments  to stay in the U.S. for a longer period of time.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting shuts down

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced it will end its operations by early 2026 after Congress voted to revoke the organization’s funding for the next two years at President Donald Trump’s request. For more than 50 years, CPB was responsible for distributing federal dollars to NPR, PBS and hundreds of local public broadcasters via grants. It was entirely dependent on federal funding despite being an independent nonprofit. Because of Congress’ decision, CPB will run out of funding Sept. 30, at which point it will lay off the majority of its roughly 100 employees. Though Congress could theoretically decide to fund CPB again, a recent bill advanced by the Senate Appropriations Committee failed to include funding for CPB for the next fiscal year.

More from Poynter:

• Corporation for Public Broadcasting to close after Congress pulls funding
• Congress signs off on Trump’s request to rescind $1 billion in funding for public broadcasting
• The U.S. government is one step closer to defunding NPR, PBS
• Trump asks Congress to revoke $1 billion in already approved funding for public broadcasting

US Agency for Global Media fires Voice of America director

The U.S. Agency for Global Media fired Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz after he refused to accept a position as chief management officer at VOA’s transmitting station in Greenville, North Carolina. In a court filing, Abramowitz said the proposed reassignment and decision to fire him was illegal since the law states he can only be removed from his position as VOA director with the approval of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board. President Donald Trump dismissed all the board’s members during his first week in office, and it has not been active since. As VOA director, Abramowitz repeatedly pushed back against the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle his outlet, which relies on government funding to provide reliable news to audiences in countries that lack press freedoms. In March, he sued the administration for placing all of VOA’s employees on leave in an attempt to shut it down. 

More from Poynter:

• Trump gutted Voice of America. Six staff members are fighting back.
• What the attempted dismantling of Voice of America means for press freedom in the US and the world
• President Trump’s latest press target: Voice of America

FCC launches investigation into Comcast and NBCUniversal

Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr sent Comcast a letter informing the company that he has asked the FCC to investigate its “relationships with its local broadcast TV affiliates.” He alleged that national programmers like Comcast have exerted increasing control over their local stations, and he stated that he has heard “numerous reports” of NBC, which is owned by Comcast, attempting to “extract onerous financial and operational concessions” from its local stations. Comcast said in a statement that it plans to cooperate with the investigation and that it is “proud” of its decades of support for its local stations. The investigation marks the second the FCC has opened into Comcast during President Donald Trump’s second term. In February, the FCC opened an investigation into the company for “promoting invidious forms of (diversity, equity and inclusion).”

White House kicks Wall Street Journal reporter out of presidential travel pool

The White House removed a Wall Street Journal reporter from the pool of reporters who were scheduled to accompany President Donald Trump on a trip to Scotland. The decision, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, stemmed from the Journal’s “fake and defamatory conduct.” Just four days prior, the Journal had published a story stating that Trump had given convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a “bawdy” birthday letter in 2003. Trump later sued the Journal for defamation. The Journal reporter who was removed from the White House pool did not have a byline on the Epstein story. The incident was the latest in which the White House has exerted control over the pool of reporters responsible for covering it, sometimes excluding outlets it dislikes — most notably The Associated Press — in favor of more friendly, conservative publications. Before February, the independent, nonprofit White House Correspondents’ Association used to determine which reporters were part of the daily rotating pool of journalists that covered the president’s activities.

More from Poynter:

• Trump sues Murdoch’s Journal and sends a familiar warning to the rest of the press
• The Trump administration goes on the attack against The Wall Street Journal

Trump sues the Wall Street Journal over its coverage of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein

President Donald Trump sued The Wall Street Journal for defamation one day after the paper reported that Trump had given convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a “bawdy” birthday letter in 2003. In his lawsuit, Trump said that the letter does not exist and demanded $20 billion in damages over two counts of defamation. The Journal, however, has stood by its reporting. Trump’s lawsuit names both of the Journal reporters who worked on the original story, as well as Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul who founded the Journal’s parent company, which also owns Fox News.  

More from Poynter:

• Trump sues Murdoch’s Journal and sends a familiar warning to the rest of the press
• An open letter to Rupert Murdoch urging action to protect our free press
• The Trump administration goes on the attack against The Wall Street Journal

Congress agrees to revoke more than $1 billion in funding for public broadcasting

In successive middle-of-the-night votes, both chambers of Congress agreed to revoke more than $1 billion in already approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The decision came at President Donald Trump’s request, which he submitted through a process known as rescission. Every year, CPB — a nonprofit that is responsible for distributing federal funds to NPR, PBS and hundreds of local public broadcasting stations — receives roughly $535 billion from the government. Congress’ decision to pass Trump’s rescission package, however, means that CPB will lose two years’ worth of funding starting in October. The package passed by slim majorities in both the House and the Senate with votes split largely along party lines. 

Trump sues three Corporation for Public Broadcasting board members

The Trump administration sued three members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting board after they refused to leave their posts at the White House’s direction. President Donald Trump first attempted to fire the board members in April. But the members — two of whom were appointed to their position by former President Joe Biden and one of whom was appointed by Trump during his first term and later reappointed by Biden — refused to leave. Instead, CPB sued Trump, arguing that the president does not have the authority to fire its board members since CPB is an independent nonprofit and not a government agency. Trump’s countersuit marked the latest in a series of attempts to exert more control over the organization, which is responsible for distributing federal funds to NPR, PBS and more than 1,500 local public broadcasting stations. In its lawsuit, the administration demanded the court remove the three board members and order them to return any salary they’ve received since April.

US Agency for Global Media lays off 639 employees

The U.S. Agency for Global Media laid off 639 employees, including those at broadcaster Voice of America, to help fulfill President Donald Trump’s March 14 executive order calling for the gutting of the agency. Thanks to the layoffs and previous rounds of cuts, USAGM had 250 employees remaining — an 85% reduction compared to the agency’s March staffing levels. USAGM senior adviser Kari Lake claimed the cuts were part of an effort to “dismantle a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy.” Supporters of VOA and its affiliate newsrooms, however, point out that its journalists help deliver reliable information and news to residents of countries that lack a free press.

ICE asks local officials to detain journalist arrested while covering Atlanta protests

Immigration and Customs Enforcement requested that local authorities detain independent journalist Mario Guevara, who was arrested while covering a “No Kings” protest in Atlanta. Guevara, who fled El Salvador in 2004 after receiving death threats for his reporting, has built a large following for his live coverage of immigration raids. As he was arrested, Guevara told police officers that he was there reporting as a member of the media — an interaction captured on his livestream of the protest. He was charged with unlawful assembly, obstruction of law enforcement and walking on or along a roadway as a pedestrian. 

Former Columbia student denied entry to US for writings about campus protests

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials detained Australian national Alistair Kitchen at the border for 12 hours before denying him entry due to his writings about pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University. Kitchen, a former Columbia master’s student, had blogged about the protests in spring 2024 when he was a student at the university. CBP officials cited those writings when they informed Kitchen he would not be allowed into the country. Kitchen, who was trying to visit friends in New York, said CBP officials searched his phone and questioned him on his views about the Israel-Hamas war, Hamas and student protesters. After being refused entry, he was sent back to Australia.     

Dozens of journalists injured by law enforcement while covering Los Angeles protests

Dozens of journalists covering protests in Los Angeles against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s raids were injured by law enforcement officers. The Los Angeles Press Club documented more than 60 instances of journalists being kettled, detained, shoved, tear gassed, shot at and otherwise assaulted by officers over the course of several days. Law enforcement agencies present at the protests included local police departments like the Los Angeles Police Department, as well as state and federal officials, including the Department of Homeland Security and the National Guard. 

Trump asks Congress to take back $1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

President Donald Trump sent Congress a rescissions package, formally requesting that the lawmaking body take back the more than $1 billion it had already approved for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as well as $8 billion in foreign aid. CPB distributes money to NPR, PBS and more than 1,500 local radio and television stations in the form of grants. Congress funds CPB two years in advance, so the rescissions package targeted the funding CPB has already been granted through September 2027. During his presidency, Trump has repeatedly tried to defund and reshape CPB, a private nonprofit.

More from Poynter:

• The U.S. government is one step closer to defunding NPR, PBS

Pentagon restricts journalists’ access in building

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced new restrictions on journalists’ access to physical spaces in the Pentagon. The updated policy requires journalists to obtain official approval and escort to access certain areas that had once been open to them. A memo detailing the restrictions justified the move as necessary to “reduce the opportunities for in-person inadvertent and authorized disclosures.” The memo further announced that journalists in the Pentagon Press Corps would be required to complete updated forms and reissued new press passes. The new restrictions follow previous moves by the Department of Defense to limit its traveling press pool and to kick mainstream outlets out of dedicated Pentagon office spaces in favor of largely conservative outlets. 

Trump bars Harvard from sponsoring international scholars — including journalism fellowship recipients

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem informed Harvard University that her department is revoking the university’s ability to sponsor visas for international students. International journalists accepted into the university’s prestigious Nieman Fellowship program cannot enter the U.S. without a J- visa — one of the two visa types Harvard was barred from sponsoring.