‘Press freedom crisis’ is observed in the US amid media consolidation and Trump’s policies.
The United States has fallen to a ‘historic low’ in the annual press freedom tracker by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), continuing a decade-long decline, the organization has reported.
The report noted a global drop in press freedom indicators in 2025, with more than half of the world’s countries labeled as ‘difficult’ or ‘very serious’ for the first time. During the first year of US President Donald Trump’s second term, the US remained in the ‘problematic’ category but dropped seven spaces from 57th to 64th.
Norway topped the list, while Eritrea ranked lowest among 180 countries.
Clayton Weimers, executive director of RSF’s North America office, stated that the US is experiencing a ‘press freedom crisis’. ‘Trump and his administration have carried out a coordinated war on press freedom since the day he took office, and we will live with the consequences for years to come,’ he said.
The report pointed to both Trump administration policies and the wider consolidation of media companies in the US, which critics say opens the door to stifling certain points of view. For instance, Skydance Media acquired Paramount Global, which includes CBS News.
In the US media landscape, just six companies dominate: Comcast, Walt Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount Skydance, Sony, and Amazon.
While Trump has long had an adversarial relationship with journalists, press freedom observers say the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has accelerated pressure on media figures and journalists during the president’s second term.
In March, FCC chair Brendan Carr stated he would revoke the licenses of broadcasters ‘running hoaxes and news distortions’. Trump expressed that he was ‘thrilled’ by Carr’s statements.
Most recently, Carr announced an investigation into several ABC channels following a joke made by Kimmel about the White House Correspondents Dinner.
