A week ago, one of the journalists in INN’s network was arrested. Georgia Fort is the co-founder of INN member Center for Broadcast Journalism, and she and veteran television journalist Don Lemon were arrested for covering a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Minneapolis. This was not an isolated example of an attack on the First Amendment’s prohibition against the government “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” From ABC News’ $15 million settlement with then-President-elect Donald Trump in December 2024 to the search and seizure of materials from a Washington Post reporter’s home on Jan. 14, 2026, we are seeing an increase in government actors attempting to silence voices that counter their narrative.
As a membership organization, INN’s primary focus is on supporting our 500 member newsrooms. Since the start of 2025, we have amped up our collaboration with partners to connect members with resources through our Press Freedom & Safety Hub, including physical safety training, digital privacy tools and referrals to pro bono legal support. This week, we signed onto the National Association of Black Journalists coalition statement condemning the arrests of Fort and Lemon, as well as a letter signed by Minnesota news leaders, and our CEO Karen Rundlet participated in NABJ’s livestreamed Town Hall on Press Freedom. Today, we are pleased to share a new report INN contributed to: the Press Freedom Briefing from the Journalism Protection Initiative at CUNY. By engaging in these collective initiatives, INN hopes to inform journalists about the resources and credentialing that may protect them in challenging situations.
But journalists are not the only ones affected when their rights are violated. Lest anyone be confused about the broader stakes for democracy when journalists are intimidated or silenced, today we are releasing INN’s first statement on press freedom. We invite you to read it, share it and join us in speaking up whenever the public’s right to speak – and right to know – is under threat.
INN Statement on Press Freedom and Democratic Accountability
The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) is a membership organization of more than 500 independent, nonprofit newsrooms across North America. INN represents newsrooms that perform an essential public service: gathering, verifying and sharing accurate reporting to help people understand their communities and hold power to account. Our members report from and with communities often overlooked by legacy media—covering local government, environmental hazards, school boards, health, criminal justice and other issues that directly affect people’s lives. Membership in INN requires a demonstrated commitment to editorial independence, original reporting and financial transparency.
Today, the function of the press is no longer confined to large institutions or traditional newsrooms. Individuals increasingly document and share information using mobile phones, livestreams and digital platforms. This evolution has strengthened democracy by expanding who can bear witness and whose stories are told. At the same time, it underscores a fundamental constitutional truth: the First Amendment protects the activity of journalism, not a professional title or employer.
INN is shocked and deeply concerned by recent actions by government officials and public authorities that appear to criminalize or deter lawful newsgathering, as well as by the growing use of civil lawsuits to pressure news organizations for unfavorable coverage. These actions blur the line between legitimate legal enforcement and retaliation against speech. Over time, they erode the conditions necessary for a free press and democracy to function.
A healthy democracy depends on the free exchange of information. Because of advances in technology, the public now documents news events, and then journalists make sense of what they see through fact-checking, analysis, data synthesis and interviewing multiple sources. When journalists are protected, communities are better informed. When they are silenced, the public loses access to the information needed to participate fully in civic life.
Attacks on journalists—whether through arrest, intimidation, or punitive legal action—do not threaten only the media. They threaten the public’s ability to access information. When an individual is punished for documenting news events or posting facts that the government finds uncomfortable, the chilling effect extends far beyond any single reporter or newsroom. If the press can be targeted for sharing information, then anyone who seeks to inform the public is at risk.
INN will continue to speak up for its members, for independent journalists, and for the public in affirming that press freedom is not a privilege granted by those in power, but a cornerstone of democratic society.
