Editorial note: This conversation was recorded on
Friday, April 24, the day before the White House Correspondents’
Dinner. Both Nico and Clayton attended the event, where a gunman
breached security and opened fire before being
apprehended.
No one was seriously injured, but the incident
serves as a reminder of the threats reporters can face in the
course of their work. Since we recorded the conversation before the
shooting, Nico and Clayton do not address it, but the incident
underscores the stakes of their discussion.
—
In 2020, Reporters Without Borders launched the
Uncensored Library, a virtual archive housed inside Minecraft, the
world’s most popular computer game.
It preserves the work of journalists who have faced
censorship, imprisonment, exile, or even death. In countries where
their reporting is banned, Minecraft itself is not, making the
library a digital sanctuary for suppressed journalism that millions
can still access.
In March 2026, the project added a United States wing,
reminding Americans that subtler, less direct threats to a free
press happen everywhere – even at home.
With today’s release of the 2026 World Press Freedom Index
and World Press Freedom Day approaching on May 3, we’re unpacking
the state of press freedom with Clayton Weimers, the executive
director of Reporters
Without Borders USA.
Download The Uncensored
Library here.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
04:41 The state of press freedom in the United
States
10:51 Trump administration’s threats to press
freedom
14:16
Patel v. The Atlantic and actual
malice
22:55 Who is to blame for distrust in media?
27:58 Viewpoint diversity in the newsroom
32:15 The modern media ecosystem
40:27 What is RSF?
47:00 Freelance and independent journalism
49:11 Clayton’s background and more on Reporters
Without Borders
51:25 Inside the Uncensored Library
01:01:59 Outro
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