Journalist Protection Act

HR 3121, the Journalist Protection Act, makes it a federal crime to intentionally assault journalists during newsgathering activities. It defines "journalist" broadly to include employees, contractors, or agents of news organizations (like newspapers, websites, TV, or radio) who regularly gather news about public interest matters. The bill criminalizes causing bodily injury to a journalist with knowledge of their status (up to 3 years in prison) or serious bodily injury (up to 6 years in prison), whether during newsgathering or to intimidate reporting. This directly affects journalists across all media platforms and those who assault them, creating specific federal penalties for attacks targeting news-gathering.