What threatens press freedom today? While the most obvious threat to press freedom emanates from oppressive politics, democracies like Germany have been downgraded by RSF because media professionals have met with increasing violence from angry mobs of polarized readers By Jan-Werner Mueller Former US president Donald Trump’s presidency was bookended by the White House pushing “alternative facts” about the size of the crowd at Trump’s inauguration at the US Capitol and his violent supporters scrawling “Murder the Media” on the Capitol’s doors. While Trump is gone (for now), professional media remain at risk — and not just in the US. The watchdog group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) considers the state of press freedom “good” in a mere 12 countries — fewer than ever before.