WHEREAS President Donald Trump has intensified his verbal attacks on the credibility of the news media and continues to refer to prestigious news media as "false news"
WHEREAS the official rhetoric against the press coincides with an alarming number of physical attacks on and threats to journalists
WHEREAS the federal government's hostility rebounds in actions against the press at state government level
WHEREAS with its actions the government frequently obstructs coverage by and access of the news media to information about governmental matters and limits access to officials and public records
WHEREAS there continues without existence a shield law at the federal level to protect news sources in the event of leaks and the Department of Justice has openly manifested its opposition to this type of legislation and warned that it will investigate the disclosure of classified information in the media
WHEREAS for more than 200 years the First Amendment of the United States Constitution has been a model of unrestricted respect for free speech and press freedom
WHEREAS Principle 1 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes that "No people or society can be free without freedom of expression and of the press"
THE 73rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES
to send a joint mission of directors of the IAPA and of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, among other organizations that wish to take part, to meet with United States authorities and express to them concern at the problems which restrict the carrying out of the activity of the press.
