The Intercept’s Press Freedom Defense Fund is announcing a new fund to support reporters and photographers facing legal threats and other hardships for their coverage of protests in California and other regions throughout the nation. Participating in the effort to provide assistance to these journalists are CalMatters and the National Press Photographers Association.
Reporters and photojournalists are critical to informing the public about matters of significant public interest, yet they have faced unprecedented, and even targeted, violence while documenting the recent immigration demonstrations. According to Reporters Without Borders, at least 27 attacks on journalists covering protests in Los Angeles took place in the protests’ first three days.
“Freelancer reporters and photographers and small outlets are on the front lines of these protests making sure the public knows what is going on. We stand in solidarity with the brave journalists, and we are proud to offer emergency funding,” said Intercept CEO Annie Chabel.
The fund will provide financial assistance for emergency medical support, legal support, equipment replacement, and other resources for affected journalists. Journalists seeking assistance can contact Celine Piser at celine.piser@theintercept.com. All requests will be processed confidentially.
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
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