Gratitude, somehow, in a dark time
Some thoughts, heading into Thanksgiving week, about how journalism can help, or hurt
Welcome to quite a few subscribers who joined American Crisis last week. Many came courtesy of Katie Couric, who interviewed me about how the media should cover Donald Trump, and published our Q&A on her popular site.
We covered a number of topics, including whether Democrats and progressives should develop their own left-leaning media industrial complex similar to the extremely effective one on the right. She also asked me about how to solve the business-model crisis in the news industry, and how to cover Trump going forward. No easy answers on any of this but here’s the full interview.
One excerpt:
Couric’s question: Recently Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski went to Mar-a-Lago and had a 90-minute meeting with Donald Trump to restart communications. They’ve been criticized, but was this a necessary step if they want to cover the administration?
My answer: That visit to Mar-a-Lago has a strong whiff of “kissing the ring” — especially after the extreme (and valid) criticism of Trump that has been a drumbeat on Morning Joe for many months. They can comment on him and cover him without groveling. After all, they aren’t White House beat reporters. They’re TV commentators and talk-show hosts. I’m sympathetic to those viewers and network staffers who feel sold out. Also, did I miss the tough-minded, no-holds-barred interview this visit produced? I didn’t think so.
I’m grateful in this Thanksgiving week for the role of investigative reporting, to which we can (at least partially) attribute the demise of Matt Gaetz as Trump’s outrageous choice for attorney general. Gaetz’s nomination might have succeeded, if not for reporting.
Less than an hour after CNN contacted Gaetz about additional and previously unreported allegations of sexual misconduct, the former Florida congressman withdrew. As John Nichols noted in The Nation, Gaetz’s downfall suggests that journalism is going to play a huge role in the weeks and months to come. He called this “clear evidence that old-school reporting and a willingness to speak truth to the power of a new administration matters more than ever.”
That’s not going to be easy since Trump will be aggressive in seeking retribution, including through a weaponized Justice Department. Journalists are going to be forced to defend themselves and news organizations, if they do their jobs, are going to incur plenty of legal expenses. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which offers pro-bono legal help, has been staffing up and getting ready. If you’re looking to contribute to a worthy cause that could make a difference, do consider RCFP.
I’m appreciative, too, of another kind of journalism — that which helps make sense of this strange moment.
For example, in the Guardian, Sam Wolfson reported on how the loneliness and alienation of many young men is fueling the popularity and influence of right-leaning podcasts, such as Joe Rogan’s, as well as YouTubers, Twitch streamers and meme accounts. The top three podcasts in the week of the election were Rogan’s, Tucker Carlson’s and comedian Theo Von’s — all with huge, mostly young male, audiences. (Theo Von, according to Wolfson, has loosely liberal views but, paradoxically, “had sympathies with Trump in this election.” Go figure.)
Terrifyingly, Wolfson called this media melange “Fox News for young people.”
He wrote that the rambling podcasts, which can run three hours long or more, provide constant companionship to a population that desperately needs it. Two thirds of American men aged 18-23, Wolfson reported, agreed in a study with the statement “no one really knows me.” Almost 30 percent of younger men reported not spending time with someone outside their household in the past week, and only one in five has a dependable network of friends near where they live. “These numbers are even more stark among men who did not go to college, who complain of little or no social or civic engagement.”
I found it sad. (The Election Day result is even sadder.) If you get a chance to reach out to young people — particularly young men — during this holiday season, please do it. It might not make a difference in any global way, but it might matter to an individual’s life and sense of belonging. Kindness matters.
Consider the words of Ian Bassin, a former White House counsel who is the founder and director of the nonprofit organization Protect Democracy. On the day after Trump was elected, Bassin wrote:
“There’s no way around the devastating reality of what has happened. We now enter an even more challenging time. But remember this: authoritarianism feeds on hopelessness, loneliness and despair. We must lean into agency, community and love. As much as you can, go there.”
On a personal level, I have much to be grateful for, including the privilege of teaching at Columbia Journalism School where we’ve been talking about many of these issues. I’m thrilled that I’ll see both my son and my daughter this week for Thanksgiving dinner. And I’m deeply thankful for the support of subscribers here, who have responded generously to my decision, after the election, to remove this newsletter’s paywall and thus allow everyone to comment. It seemed to me that it could be useful to have a forum to talk about what’s going on; the discussion has been robust, and the paywall remains down.
Please let me know your thoughts about the moment we’re in, how journalism can help, and what you’re doing to stay positive — if indeed you are. I’m already seeing lots of efforts in the media to further normalize Trump, and I’m collecting examples for a later post. Are you noticing this, too?
And finally, some heartening words from a new subscriber:
Thanks to all for sharing your thoughts and for being along for this bumpy ride, which is just beginning. I am confident that we can help each other through it. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you for your cautious optimism. I am terrified about what’s to come. Terrified that half the nation thinks it is acceptable to let someone run the country that tried to overthrow it. Terrified that half this country has forgotten that we were not told about a healthcare crisis that loomed in front of us and killed millions. I am also terrified that a democracy is supposed to be for the people and by the people about the people. Not about using the platform to get your own way and fatten your bank book. There are people in jail now who have stolen classified documents and not paid taxes. There are people in jail who have been responsible for the death of one police officer - let alone 7 innocent people at the Capitol Building. Yet there is one person above the law who threatens those who want to enforce the law. That to me makes no sense. What does make sense is that no one is talking about Elon Musk who seems to be inside this miracle bubble. The only reason he is a right wing hero is because of what he might have done to cement a felon in chief. What was his role in this election? I also wonder how the price of eggs will go down because of new leadership. With government agencies on the chopping block and authoritarianism a real possibility how can anyone with common sense have hope for a future democracy. I would like to believe that journalists will come to the rescue. But i know better. Most people don’t read newspapers. They use social media as their truth bearer. But i do agree that Democrats need to have a media outlet on TV and print that can neutralize Fox News and the New York Post. Thank you for your guidance and common sense approach to what lies ahead. I am collecting masks and gloves in case they outlaw healthcare protocols. If you remember we were told Covid was nothing. It would go away they said. Well it didn’t. I hope that people like you can tip the scales of justice to its rightful place. I have yet to see anyone enforce the emolument clause. Soon the White House and our government will be for sale to the highest bidder. Apprentice 3.0 is on the horizon.
It was liberating to finally end my subscription to the Washington Post after a quarter century. I just subscribed to The Guardian, not least of all because of Ms. Sullivan, but especially their model of reader support. I was passionately invested in the Post and recoiled with revulsion and refusal at their non-endorsement. It is a pity their fine reporters must suffer for the complicity, complacency, and ultimately cowardice of their Opinions editors, but that business model—appeasement of power and contempt for readers and subscribers—needs to be destroyed. It was dismaying to hear even excellent columnists like Ruth Marcus or Erik Wemple so fatalistically resigned to the provably corrupt idea that the owner has every right to see his editorial reviews reflected. No. The Post, and any prestigious institution of journalism, is a public good. If The Post made its subscribers and readers the owners it would have 50 million in this political moment instead of the 2.5 diminishing it has now. Let’s figure out a way to make that happen for the antifascist press; we can start by punishing the legacy press with their boards of errand boys for billionaires.