Media Watchdog: Press Freedom Plummeted Across Americas in 2025

A regional press freedom organization reports 2025 marked one of the worst years for journalists across the Western Hemisphere. The Inter American Press Association cited rising violence, arbitrary detentions, and increasing government intimidation of media workers in 23 countries.

BOGOTA, Colombia — A media watchdog organization reports that journalists throughout the Western Hemisphere faced severe challenges in 2025, marking what they call a significant decline in press freedoms across the region.

The Inter American Press Association released findings Tuesday showing deteriorating conditions for media professionals in 23 nations. “This has been one of the worst years in the region, with homicides, arbitrary arrests, and impunity” for crimes committed against journalists, the organization stated in their yearly assessment.

The Miami-headquartered organization has tracked media freedoms through their Chapultepec index since 2020, examining how nations from Canada to South America safeguard journalistic rights.

Their latest rankings place Venezuela and Nicaragua in the worst category as nations “without freedom of speech.” Countries including Ecuador, Bolivia, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, and El Salvador received “high restriction” designations. Meanwhile, Canada, Brazil, Chile and Panama earned “low restrictions” ratings for their treatment of press freedoms.

The United States received a “restrictions” classification, with researchers documenting 170 incidents targeting journalists throughout 2025. The assessment highlighted particular concerns about attacks during Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations coverage.

Investigators determined that in the U.S. “there was poor government action against disinformation, as well as government actions aimed at limiting free expression and access to information.” They noted that President Donald Trump and administration officials have “stigmatized” news organizations that report critically on government actions.

The organization attributes rising journalist attacks to emerging “authoritarian presidents” throughout the region. In Venezuela, media outlets practiced widespread “self-censorship,” providing minimal coverage of opposition leader María Corina Machado receiving the Nobel Peace Prize due to fears of government retaliation.

Nicaragua faces “institutionalized” censorship following constitutional changes that consolidated all government branches under presidential authority, according to the findings.

El Salvador earned a “high restrictions” designation as officials use legal action and criminal probes to intimidate reporters. Between May and July alone, 180 incidents against media personnel were documented in the Central American nation.

Ecuador experienced 290 aggressive acts against journalists last year, including four killings allegedly committed by criminal organizations. Police also wounded a journalist during live coverage of an Indigenous community demonstration.

Haiti appeared in the annual assessment for the first time, receiving one of the lowest press freedom rankings in the Americas. Gang members killed two journalists in 2024 during an attack on a hospital reopening ceremony in Port-au-Prince.

The report emphasized that journalist-targeted crimes face no consequences in Haiti, where criminal groups dominate much of the capital and systematically threaten both media workers and residents.

The Inter American Press Association represents over 1,300 news organizations and advocates for media freedoms throughout the Western Hemisphere.