One year after Donald Trump took office, the American media is under attack from several sides. The president reiterates that the media is “the enemy of the people.”
News journalists face danger to their lives and are forced to work with bodyguards. But recently, established media outlets like the New York Times have also come under attack from Trump opponents. They are accused of “sane washing” – that is, because they normalize and legitimize Trump’s actions with their reporting from the White House.
The shock phase is over. Newsrooms and universities are preparing for the new United States.
I can do that State after leading a tour for Swedish journalists under the auspices of the Journalists Fund. We visited American newsrooms and met researchers at Harvard University. The analysis is consistent. In just one year, the United States was torn from its democratic foundations.
When we meet political scientist Steven Levitsky, co-author of the book “This is how democracies die,” he says that the US today is an electoral autocracy, an authoritarian system that superficially looks like a democracy because elections are still organized. The midterm elections are clearly in jeopardy. Paramilitary ICE cause increased violence on the streets.
The challenge is enormous and trust in the media is in free fall
In this new political landscape, the country’s journalists have to find new strategies. The challenge is enormous and trust in the media is in free fall.
On both the right and the left, more and more Americans are turning to dropouts or self-proclaimed journalists who run their own podcasts and media channels on Substack or YouTube. They are not subject to editing and cannot be fact-checked. They confirm one hundred percent the worldview of their followers.
Liberal flagships like the New York Times are increasingly criticized by their own, once-loyal readers. Calls for biased reporting that takes a stand against Trump are growing.
One of those journalists is Margaret Sullivan, former news director at The New York Times. In her newsletter, “Crisis in America,” she highlighted the coverage in both her old newspaper and television networks such as ABC and CNN. Their recurring position is that they do not distance themselves clearly enough from Trump’s actions in their reporting. One example was the news that Trump would withdraw ICE troops from Minneapolis. “ICE is withdrawing,” it said, but Sullivan says it should have read: “Trump claims ICE is withdrawing.”
Economist Paul Krugman takes the criticism one step further and recently wrote in his newsletter that Trump and his supporters, which include much of the American media, “will burn in hell.”
After all, when I press him, he admits that if the White House spreads an AI image of the Obamas as monkeys, it should be called racist
Throughout the country Sirius radio station “The Nation” is close to the Trump administration, “The Progressive” is openly left-wing and “Potus” maintains comprehensive and impartial reporting.
In this way, the Minneapolis shootings are portrayed in completely different ways. In the left-leaning The Progressive they talk about how “the fascists marched into Minneapolis.” The independent “Potus” states: “ICE shot a citizen in Minneapolis. That’s what we currently know.” The Trump-loyal show “The Nation” talks about how “socialists threaten our patriots who protect citizens from violent criminals.”
“Potus” host Julie Mason receives daily criticism for inviting Republican guests to talk about political issues, such as how they plan to advance the country’s health care policy. The criticism is that she should instead question them about Trump’s recent performance.
Your opinion is clear. The role of the journalist is not to be part of the opposing team. She believes a new MAGA movement will emerge within the Democratic Party that is as unreasonable as Trump’s core electorate.
The development is worrying also Martin Baron, former editor-in-chief of the Washington Post. He claims that the media can only survive if it adheres to the basic principles of journalism. “Show, don’t tell,” let everyone have their say, document what’s happening, show how Trump is breaking the law. But if man Calls He believes that politics is undemocratic, misogynistic or racist; it is opinion journalism. After all, when I press him, he admits that if the White House spreads an AI image of the Obamas as monkeys, it should be called racist.
Since Martin Baron left The Washington Post, the newspaper has moved in a pro-regime direction. Owner Jeff Bezos has ordered that the editorial page not criticize President Trump and instead write about “personal freedom and free markets.” 300 journalists were fired, several of whom were accused of left-wing sympathies. Baron calls the decisions a “death spiral” for one of the world’s strongest brands and believes this is the beginning to the end of the magazine’s existence.
Another challenge for the established media is that young journalists have a completely new perspective on journalism
It lies in this case in the direction of the tangent. Today, the United States is facing the most intense news evolution in modern history and has the lowest number of journalists ever. 3,000 daily newspapers have disappeared in 10 years. The public service has been in free fall since Congress voted last summer to end sixty years of government support for public television and radio in the United States. The argument was that taxpayer money should not be used to fund left-wing news. Fundraising drives keep newsrooms afloat for a while, but in the long run it is not financially sustainable. Public radio stations like PBS in Boston are now being forced into commercial partnerships.
Another challenge for the established media is that young journalists have a completely new perspective on journalism. Generation Z sees saving democracy as their main task. Becoming a journalist is a tool to achieve this goal.
New York-based Reuters, the world’s largest news organization with 2,400 journalists, has begun requiring new employees to sign ethics rules. Many young reporters are unemployed because of their opinions on social media. The content would jeopardize Reuters’ credibility.
Nothing will be the same as it was.
If there is a dispute over the midterm elections and Republicans refuse to accept a Democratic victory, the Democratic crisis will deepen
The common thread running through all conversations during the trip to the USA is media self-criticism. Martin Baron, for example, believes that under his leadership the Washington Post was unable to understand people’s living conditions and concerns.
Now the media must try to justify its existence by being useful to its audience. Almar Latour, CEO of The Wall Street Journal, has a new strategy. The newspaper should become broader and deeper and invest in global reporting on the environment. He proudly tells us that he employed 1,500 external analysts for this purpose. The newspaper achieves its best result ever.
Many newsrooms also plan to be more transparent about how the news came about by publishing documents used in newsmaking online to build trust. The Eagle, a small local newspaper in Butler, Pennsylvania, has begun holding information sessions about the city after finding that many readers have major gaps in their knowledge of how local politics and electoral processes work.
The question is about that is too late. Can impartial journalism survive in a country that is rapidly becoming an authoritarian state? If there is a dispute over the midterm elections and Republicans refuse to accept a Democratic victory, the Democratic crisis will deepen.
In such a situation, independent courts and media, two of the strongest pillars of democracy, are needed more than ever.
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