How Journalists Should Cover Trump’s Second Term
Journalism should operate as American democracy's immune system, identifying authoritarian threats and informing the public with uncompromising truth-telling.
Thank you for reading! In the face of unrelenting disinformation, clear truth-telling and independent media are a necessity. We have to spread the truth as forcefully as gaslighters spread their lies. If you value in-depth analysis through a pro-democracy lens, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber to my newsletter. Paid subscribers empower this work and gain access to exclusive community features. Your subscription makes a difference.
We exist within a Disinformation Age where our media consumption is fragmented, and there are no universally agreed-upon facts. Our social media feeds are at the whim of corporate-engineered personalized algorithms that are designed to reinforce our preexisting biases and capture our attention at all costs - even if that cost is the truth.
Gone are the days of the dominant Big Three networks - ABC, NBC, and CBS - and major newspapers delivering centralized news in the mid-1900s. Americans now receive their news from a wide array of sources, from podcasters to social media creators. The gatekeepers are gone. While this has created great opportunities for honest independent media to rise, the incentive structure of an internet dominated by the attention economy encourages shameless, lying grifters as well.
Biologist Edward O. Wilson once said, “The real problem of humanity is the following: We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology. And it is terrifically dangerous, and it is now approaching a point of crisis overall.” The human brain isn’t built to consume this onslaught of information and hasn’t yet evolved to adapt to this unrelenting pace of technological advancement.
This information environment has been expertly utilized by a right-wing media ecosystem that weaponizes lies to exploit Americans’ distrust in institutions and innate human vulnerabilities - all for Trump’s benefit.
In the face of this incredibly well-funded, right-wing disinformation machine, there is no liberal equivalent pushing back. There is, of course, the mainstream media that sees its work as upholding objective reality, but it’s often plagued by false equivalency and both-sideism. Unfortunately, in the 2024 election cycle, it was clear that this wider mainstream media ecosystem didn’t always live up to the highest potential of the Fourth Estate.
Just to be clear up front, I don’t subscribe to the broad, unnuanced attacks on the media. My take is more balanced. I agree that many outlets did, in fact, sanewash Trump’s unhinged rants, making him more palatable to voters, and Kamala Harris faced an unmistakable double standard in a lot of the coverage. However, I also recognize that there were bright spots in the 2024 election coverage that did work to accurately spotlight the threat of a second Trump term.
During the 2024 election cycle, many journalists did phenomenal work. Mainstream networks like MSNBC constantly spotlighted the threats of Project 2025, and publications like ProPublica did invaluable investigative reporting. The New York Times also did excellent reporting but was often weighed down by its opinion page and poorly worded headlines.
I consume more media than any one human being should, so I got a front-row seat to how the media covered this election cycle. I’m constantly flipping through networks like MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News throughout my workday, I listen to several political podcasts daily, I tune into the political conversation on all social media platforms, and I’m always reading digital and print media from across the political spectrum.
While I saw frustrating examples of false equivalency and attempts at false balance, I also saw shining examples of real journalism that sought to inform the public. I think the coverage in this year’s election was better than 2016 but worse than 2020.
Needless to say, there is a lot of room for improvement as we approach the second Trump Administration, where great journalism will be more necessary than ever before.
We Need More Fearless Pro-Democracy Journalism
I documented every day of Trump’s presidency during his first term, so I know a thing or two about how Trump operates. I also spent the past year writing and making appearances on MSNBC warning about Project 2025. I’ve also delivered guest lectures about media literacy in the Disinformation Age to thousands of middle school, high school, and college students over the past two years.
Throughout all this work, I’ve come to the conclusion that journalists have to grow increasingly innovative with how they present truth and safeguard democracy.
In the very first article I wrote in this newsletter last year, I argued why the media should be unapologetically pro-democracy, and I warned that the media was making similar mistakes they made in 2016. I wrote that journalism should act as American democracy’s immune system, rejecting the sickness of authoritarianism. Like the antibodies we develop after infection or immunization from a virus, journalists should recognize the historical patterns of authoritarianism, inform voters of its corrosive impacts, and trigger the public to mobilize against it.
That is what we need now, more than ever.
Amid an avalanche of disinformation and outrage bait, members of the media should not only relay facts but help Americans interpret those facts with contextualized analysis. They’ll need to focus on the impact of policies and actions, not just the optics. As NYU Journalism Professor Jay Rosen says, journalists need to highlight the stakes, not the odds.
Steven Bannon once said, “The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.” Journalists need to keep this in mind. Trump’s chaotic moves are often part of a strategy of distraction. We need to be on guard and parse through what truly matters and where we should direct the attention of the American people.
We know the Project 2025 playbook. Watch for moves to dismantle independent agencies, consolidate executive power, and undermine democratic safeguards. Journalists must call these out early and clearly. I’ve already been seeking to do that myself by spotlighting Trump’s hiring of Project 2025 loyalists.
Covering Trump’s avalanche of lies will also be challenging. According to The Washington Post, President Trump told over 30,000 lies while in office, including the Big Lie that the election was stolen – a lie that would lead to an illegal attempted overthrow of American democracy by his own supporters. Journalists should cover Trump like the documented liar he is and never take what Trump says at face value or report his words verbatim and unchecked. When they catch Trump lying, they should not only fact-check but also place those lies in the broader context of Trump’s strategy. Focus on the why as much as the what.
True objectivity isn’t fake neutrality. It’s upholding objective reality against disinformation. Anything less is a bias toward the liar. This is how the media should cover Trump's lies.
I know there are new threats to journalists in this incoming administration. Trump’s pick for FBI Director Kash Patel signals that he is serious about his calls to punish members of the media. But in the face of these threats, we can’t obey in advance, as historian Timothy Snyder says. We have to remain fearless in our coverage, steadfast in our values, and committed to safeguarding democracy.
Given these complex dynamics, I understand it can be difficult for some journalists to be overtly pro-truth. Not everyone works at news organizations where management encourages and incentivizes this kind of coverage. But we need top-down changes in coverage to meet the moment and some personal bravery, too.
We need journalists to present more context in their coverage. Focus less on the horse race and more on the substance of what is being proposed. Don’t become desensitized to the authoritarian insanity, and repeatedly outline the stakes for your readers. When covering politicians with a well-known track record of lying, make sure to frame the story in a way that doesn’t give credence to their false narratives.
It’s not enough to cover what is happening. Journalists must explain why it’s happening, how we got here, and where it could be headed.
Building Trust Through Realistic Coverage
Journalists, including myself, have spent the past year warning about the dangers of a potential second Trump term. Now that it’s actually coming, we have to be honest with our readers about what Trump can realistically accomplish.
People don’t need fear-mongering or performative outrage. Trump will surely do outrageous things, but those of us delivering information need to remain calm and hold up an accurate lens to the state of affairs. Trump wants us to be scared. Although there is reason to be concerned, Trump is not as powerful as he claims to be, and depicting him as such will only cause disillusionment and helplessness.
As I wrote in a recent article, Trump’s second term won’t be immediate autocracy. Many of his actions will be tied up in the courts, and others won’t come to fruition at all. And as he overplays his hand, Democrats will have an opportunity to spotlight Turmp’s corruption and win back power in the 2026 midterms (yes, there will be more elections - politics isn’t over).
There is a lot of despair, but it’s important to keep in mind that the same bureaucratic hindrances President Biden faced when trying to get things accomplished will also plague President-elect Trump. Lawsuits, processes, and the slow machinery of government will slow some of Trump’s moves. Republicans will also have an incredibly narrow majority in the House for Trump’s first 100 days ahead of special elections for the vacancies caused by Trump’s appointees. Trump will be a lame-duck president who can’t run for re-election. Senators who aren’t up for re-election may be more inclined to show their backbone.
The media should be vigilant. Public pressure could change the vote of one or two congresspeople, and that could be the difference between a dangerous bill failing or succeeding.
Innovative Distribution & Business Models
With ratings at some cable networks dropping, it’s clear that Americans want a different kind of coverage. I personally think people aren’t tuning out news entirely—they’re just turning to media that will give them a straightforward analysis of the days ahead.
Since the election, I’ve seen a subscriber surge to my newsletter, and other independent media are reporting growth, too. People are hungry for fresh media, and journalists, both in the mainstream and independent media, have a new opportunity to give it to them.
Not only do I think individual journalists need to get more creative with the way they approach content, but they need to diversify their distribution. This means posting on popular video platforms like YouTube and TikTok but also adopting new platforms like Bluesky, which don’t deprioritize news content.
The data also indicates that part of Trump’s 2024 success resulted from voters who don’t consume much political news at all. Instead, they tune into non-political media, like Twitch streamers and podcasts run by comedians. Just like Democrats should spend the next four years figuring out how to connect with people who don’t traditionally tune into political news, I think journalists need to also consider making more appearances on non-political media. Those conversations build trust and relatability, which the media needs right now.
Regarding some bigger-picture changes, we need large media organizations and independent media to diversify their revenue streams. Media should explore other business models, including memberships that can empower readers to support journalism that they believe in. This model ensures media organizations are being driven by their readers, not their advertisers.
This means embracing newsletters and building more community-based business models that enable journalists to engage more closely with their readers, further building trust. This community-driven approach is one of the reasons I’m on Substack and not my own website.
The right-wing disinformation machine is incredibly well-funded by billionaires. Truth-based, independent media does not have that luxury. Those who want to see more high-quality journalism should consider subscribing to the media they love. If independent media gets grassroots money in off-years comparable to what Democratic Campaigns get in election years, the information ecosystem will change.
The Harris Campaign raised over $1 billion in about 100 days. A lot of that was from everyday Americans. There is no savior billionaire that will come and fund all independent media, but if everyday Americans step up to support it, we’re in for a different ballgame.
Journalism Still Matters
I know many believe journalists no longer matter. To those people, I say look no further than how reporting has damaged some of Trump’s Cabinet picks. Sure, traditional media has less of an impact on public opinion, but it definitely still influences what happens in Washington, DC.
The downfall of Matt Gaetz’s Attorney General nomination and the damage done to Pete Hegseth’s chances of leading the DOD showcases that journalism still matters and political gravity still exists. The scandals that harmed these nominees were discovered and elevated by journalists. As much as mainstream media influence has waned, it still very much has an impact.
Journalism will be especially important during the second Trump Administration, where there will likely be efforts to cover up the cruel human toll of Trump’s mass deportations and the terrible conditions of their detention camps. It’ll be up to journalists to investigate and highlight these harms as they did in Trump’s first term, where coverage of Trump’s migrant family separation policy built pressure for Trump to end it.
If journalism didn’t matter, Donald Trump and his right-wing allies wouldn’t spend so much time verbally attacking and promising to prosecute members of the media. Trump sees journalism as a threat to his power. Journalists shouldn’t relent in the face of these threats. They should double down on the truth.
We have to spread the truth more forcefully than authoritarians spread their lies. I know that I’ll be doing my best to deliver focused analysis. I appreciate those of you who are still tuned in and ready to navigate the years ahead. We got this.
Yes indeed, Ahmed. We each need to spread the word as well by speaking out whenever we can. And somehow find trusted sources by triple-checking everything!