This year, 157 incidents of assault against journalists have been reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Many of those incidents occurred at protests, where law enforcement has put members of the media at risk.
President Trump welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House on Tuesday. During a brief press conference, ABC News chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce asked the Crown Prince why Americans should trust him after U.S. intelligence concluded he ordered the 2018 killing of a Washington Post columnist.
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Trump quickly cut in, referring to the murdered journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. “Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”
Trump’s quick dismissal underscores how sharply safety concerns for journalists have escalated. He has long labeled the press “the enemy of the people,” a phrase he regularly deployed at rallies during his first campaign.
Press advocacy groups, such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, have warned that such rhetoric contributes to a chilling climate for reporters, both in the U.S. and abroad.
USC alumnus and reporter for Capital & Main, Jeremy Lindenfeld, was struck by a foam baton round fired by Los Angeles Police Department officers during protests over ICE raids on June 6. Lindenfeld had his press pass hanging around his neck and was wearing his press helmet.
“I didn’t think I was going to get shot at that moment,” he said. “If I did, I wouldn’t have been there.”
Moments before, he had been documenting protesters near Little Tokyo when LAPD officers began forming a line around protestors, pushing the crowd through the streets.
Protesters were singing one minute, and officers were abruptly advancing the next. During one of those sudden pushes, an officer raised a launcher and fired a foam baton round that struck Lindenfeld in the abdomen.
The sudden escalation of violence left a deeper mark than he expected. Lindenfeld said the incident triggered his first real trauma response. “I lost my appetite completely for like a week or two weeks, and I couldn’t make myself eat,” he said.
Incidents like his raise questions about how journalists can do their jobs when covering situations that might force them to step into danger. Lindenfeld says the threats to journalists trying to do their jobs affect the public’s understanding of events.
“It disincentivizes journalists from accurately and proactively documenting important, volatile situations,” he said. “Without members of the press present at those events, we’re left to understand them only through protesters’ accounts, or from statements by law enforcement, who often do not accurately represent what happened.”
Lindenfeld now urges student journalists to prepare deliberately: never report from a volatile scene alone, always know an escape route and wear proper safety gear in case tear gas or crowd-control munitions are deployed.
At USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, faculty say this moment demands more from journalism educators, too.
“We have a greater need than ever to teach not only safety measures, but a whole principle of resilience,” said Professor Sandy Tolan, who has reported from conflict zones across more than 40 countries. He believes that the political hostility and police violence in the field make resilience essential, especially for early-career reporters.
Tolan said he’s been inspired by the new generation of journalists entering the field. “There’s a mutual support that wasn’t as prevalent in the era of sharp elbows when I came into journalism.”
At the same time, he said young reporters need to hear a message that has become increasingly urgent. They have a right to report.
“For young journalists, it’s important to fortify themselves and be reminded that you belong there,” Tolan said. “It doesn’t matter what the president of the United States or some CEO says — you have a right to be there. The job we’re doing is more important than ever. We are at the foundation of democracy.”
Tolan also pointed to the misogyny on display in the White House exchange, noting that two women reporters asked the questions Trump dismissed. “Women journalists need to be supported and reminded they have a right to be there, no matter who might be attacking them,” he said.
Despite the risks, both Lindenfeld and Tolan say journalism remains worth the trouble, and even the danger. Lindenfeld says the fact that powerful institutions try to suppress reporting affirms its value. Tolan says it’s the stories, especially about vulnerable communities, that keep him committed after decades in the field.
As political leaders dismiss and downplay violence against the press, Lindenfeld and Tolan say the responsibilities for journalists grow not lighter, but heavier.