Press Freedom Under Fire: Threats to Journalism and Democracy

Wendy McMahon is a pioneering executive with a track record of driving large-scale innovation, building high-performing teams, and transforming legacy institutions into modern, mission-driven organizations.

As President and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures, McMahon led one of America's most influential media organizations, creating groundbreaking shifts in digital strategy, expanding local journalism, and building nationally recognized content brands. She orchestrated one of the most ambitious integrations in modern media, uniting national and local newsrooms into a 24/7 multi-platform powerhouse and launching streaming channels that reach billions of viewers.

A champion of creativity, culture, and accountability, McMahon brings a deep understanding of how to lead through complexity and inspire teams to thrive. Her leadership is defined by turning vision into operational reality. Under her direction and in just one year, CBS Stations skyrocketed from fourth to fi rst in local news streaming, and CBS News became the national broadcast leader in streaming minutes consumed.

She has successfully built startups within legacy media, including the CBS News Confirmed unit - a team of forensic journalists using AI and data to combat misinformation - and established innovation labs that modernize storytelling through emerging technologies.

Her unified division encompassed Paramount's national broadcast news programs and operations, including 60 Minutes, Face the Nation, and CBS Sunday Morning, the #1 rated news programs on Sundays; 27 local television stations; 20 national and local news streaming channels, and CMV's top-rated syndication programming and content licensing business. McMahon has championed solutions-oriented community journalism and created the Super Desk - a technology-enabled central news operation that pairs innovation with journalistic excellence.

Previously, as President of ABC Owned Television Stations, McMahon led the strongest local station group in the country. As the head of digital, she created Localish, a mobile-first storytelling brand that scaled nationally, and launched local streaming channels that proved community connection could drive audience engagement at scale. Throughout her career, she has repeatedly modernized products, united teams, and developed multi-platform strategies that engage audiences while strengthening trust and accuracy in journalism.

McMahon has been recognized with the 2024 Giant of Broadcasting Award and named NAB Digital Leader of the Year, one of the Variety 500 and Women's Impact Report honorees, a WICT LEA Award winner, and Wonder Woman of Los Angeles by Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable. Her teams have earned numerous Emmys, Associated Press, and National Edward R. Murrow Awards.

A Louisiana State University graduate (summa cum laude, mass communication-broadcast journalism), McMahon currently serves as Senior Advisor at Beehiiv supporting independent journalism, advises media-tech ventures, and serves as a sought-after voice on the intersection of content, technology, and audience engagement.

Roberson Alphonse is a visiting lecturer at Medill in residence in 2025. Alphonse is a Haitian media professional and serves as the head of national news at Le Nouvelliste, the newsroom director at Magik 9 and the producer of the Dèyè Kay program. He reports on sensitive subjects and challenges facing the country, including corruption, human rights and socio-political crises in Haiti. In addition to his investigative journalism, Alphonse works to train the next generation of journalists in Haiti and is working on his first book, an anthology retracing his 20 years of journalism.

Chris Casquejo was most recently a Washington-based program host and correspondent for English to Asia, VOA's English-language affiliate service to the Indo-Pacific region. He appeared frequently on NDTV and WION in India, TVRI World in Indonesia, ABS-CBN, Bilyonaryo News Channel and PTV in the Philippines, and Arirang News in South Korea.

Casquejo joined VOA in 2021. He previously served as a regional correspondent based in Seattle for CGTN America, where he covered global corporations like Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft and Starbucks, along with breaking news stories in the Pacific Northwest. He also reported for the nationally-syndicated First Business News program in Chicago.

Casquejo, a Medill 1995 BSJ graduate, previously worked at TV stations in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio. He is a longtime member of the Asian American Journalists Association.

He lives in northern Virginia.

Adam Ganucheau serves as Deep South Today's first Executive Editor and Chief Content Officer, a regional leadership role overseeing the organization's editorial and content strategy across its growing network of nonprofit newsrooms. He supports the newsgathering efforts of Deep South Today’s three existing outlets — Mississippi Today, Verite News and The Current — and provides essential direction for the launch of new newsrooms across the region.

Ganucheau previously served as editor-in-chief at Mississippi Today which grew into the largest newsroom in the state and earned a reputation for some of the most impactful investigative reporting in the nation. Under his leadership, the newsroom won one Pulitzer Prize and was named a finalist for a second. It also won two Goldsmith Prizes, a Livingston Award, a Collier Prize and numerous Society of Professional Journalists regional awards. Many of the newsroom’s successes during his tenure came in the face of one of the most aggressive and notable attacks on the free press in modern U.S. history, leading to Mississippi Today’s receipt of the National Press Club’s highest honor for press freedom.

Julie Pace is Senior Vice President and Executive Editor of The Associated Press, leading global news coverage from more than 100 countries. Since Pace assumed the role in 2021, AP has significantly expanded its digital news offerings, been awarded three Pulitzer Prizes, and produced an award-winning documentary on the Ukraine war that won an Academy Award and a BAFTA.

Previously, Pace was Washington Bureau Chief for AP, directing AP’s coverage of the presidency, politics and the U.S. government.

Before that, Pace was AP’s White House Correspondent, contributing aggressive news reporting to the AP news report. Pace won the White House Correspondents’ Association Merriman Smith award in 2013 for her work explaining the Obama campaign’s complex approach to voter turnout.

She joined AP in 2007 as a multimedia reporter, developing AP’s plans for live video coverage of 2008′s Election Day and the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

A native of Buffalo, New York, Pace began her career as a reporter in 2003 at South Africa’s only independent television network, before spending two years reporting on politics at the Tampa Tribune and its partner television station WFLA. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and lives in New York.

Tenzin Pema is a Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow and former Director of Radio Free Asia - Tibetan Service.

Pema is a journalist of Tibetan origin with over two decades of experience as a reporter, editor, and newsroom leader in global media firms. She was most recently the Director of Radio Free Asia’s Tibetan Service, where she led critical and sensitive reporting on Tibet across multiple formats and platforms, including groundbreaking coverage of the Dege dam protests in 2024 that led to mass arrests, as well as transnational repression across borders and the erasure of Tibetan language and cultural identity in Tibetan monasteries and schools, and at the global level. She served as Editor of Strategic Initiatives at Economic Times and as Editorial Head at YourStory Media. She spent a decade with Reuters, where she was an Editor-in-Charge of teams covering different regions; there, she spearheaded the creation of a dual-language Middle East news team – a first for its Bengaluru newsroom. She holds a postgraduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism in India.

Seth Stern is the director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF). He oversees FPF’s efforts to promote laws and policies that protect press freedom and stand up for journalists and whistleblowers who have been denied their rights. He's written about press freedom for The Guardian, The Intercept, the Chicago Sun-Times and many other national and local outlets around the country.

Prior to joining FPF, Stern practiced media and First Amendment law at Funkhouser Vegosen Liebman & Dunn in Chicago for over a decade. Before that, he worked as a reporter and editor in the Chicago and Atlanta areas. He lives in Evanston with his wife and two kids.

Clayton Weimers is the Executive Director of RSF USA, the North American branch of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In this role, he oversees the organization’s efforts to monitor press freedom across the English-speaking Americas, to advocate for journalist safety, and to promote the public’s right to information across the region.

A seasoned advocate, Weimers originally joined RSF USA as Deputy Director for Advocacy, where he built relationships with stakeholders across media, government, and civil society to strengthen RSF’s priorities in the United States.

His written commentary on press freedom and media policy have appeared in outlets including The Washington Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, Newsweek, The Hill, and The Independent. Weimers holds an A.M. in International Relations from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from Pitzer College.

Lucy Westcott became director of CPJ’s Emergencies Department in October 2021. She oversees CPJ’s assistance and safety work worldwide.

Westcott joined CPJ in 2018 as the James W. Foley Fellow. During her fellowship, she focused on safety issues for women journalists in non-hostile environments and assisted with the creation of safety resources for journalists globally. In 2021, she played a prominent role in CPJ’s response to the Afghan crisis, including helping Afghan journalists and their families evacuated to Qatar.

Prior to joining CPJ, Westcott was a staff writer for Newsweek, where she covered gender and immigration, and reported from countries around the world.

She has reported for outlets including The Intercept, Bustle, The Atlantic, and Women Under Siege, and was a United Nations correspondent for the Inter Press Service

Ke "April" Xu is an award-winning bilingual journalist with over a decade of experience reporting on New York City's Chinese community. She currently works at Documented and previously reported for Sing Tao Daily, one of the largest Chinese-language newspapers outside of China. She is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Chinese immigrants through news coverage, community events, and audience engagement. Her reporting spans investigative journalism, politics, labor, migration, and broader social issues. Xu also leads Documented’s award-winning WeChat official account, a news vertical tailored to Chinese-speaking audiences.

Links to her articles: https://documentedny.com/author/april-xu/