Is Journalism Ready for a Second Trump Administration?

Radio Atlantic

The Atlantic

Politics, News, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2024

⏱️ 35 minutes

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Summary

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has mused, a few times, about throwing reporters in jail if they refuse to leak their sources and taking away broadcast licenses of networks he’s deemed unfriendly. These last couple of weeks, we’ve had clear signals that maybe his threats are having an impact when both The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times pulled their endorsements of Kamala Harris. We talk to Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, about navigating both pressures from owners and threats from the administration. And we discuss the urgent question of whether the media, pummeled and discredited for years by Trump, is ready for a second Trump administration. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	journalists who have covered Donald Trump's rallies and I'm, know that it's an uncomfortable situation.
0:15.0	He'll be giving a speech and mention the fake media, or talk about reporters as the enemy
0:20.0	of the American people, and then the crowd will all turn towards the press area and
0:24.2	start pointing and booing. Trump has said he would jail reporters who don't
0:29.1	reveal sources or take away broadcast licenses for outlets he doesn't like.
0:34.0	So there's been a long time standoff between the free press
0:38.0	and a possible future president,
0:40.0	which in these last few days leading up to the election
0:43.0	has gotten a lot more real.
0:45.2	I'm Hannah Rosen, this is Radio Atlantic.
0:48.9	Recently, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post
0:52.0	at the 11th hour decided not to
0:54.6	endorse a political candidate because their owners asked them not to. Both of
0:59.8	these papers were going to endorse Kamala Harris. So the last second decision certainly
1:04.6	makes it look like they were backing off to appease Trump. Motives aside
1:08.3	though, this moment raises an urgent question. Can the Washington Post, the L.A. Times, us the Atlantic, all of American
1:16.4	journalism stand up to a second Trump administration. Today, days before the election, we have with us our own editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg,
1:26.4	to talk about what's really at stake in this endorsement story.
1:31.2	Here's our conversation. As you know, the L.A. Times and the Washington Post made news for announcing they would not be endorsing in this presidential race.
1:44.8	What was your reaction to that news?
1:47.1	My reaction was that they are not masters of excellent timing.
1:52.3	If they had decided that, which a perfectly fine position to take,
	...

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