At a time when too many political reporters choose maintaining access over pushing back, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tough questions and called him out when he answered with lies. Then after he summoned her to his office and yelled at her, she went public.
RECENTLY
Adam Schiff’s plaintive cry for truth and justice is also an indictment of political journalism
Too many elite journalists have kept a distance from the issues Schiff raised, preferring to simply present two sides, sometimes even falsely equated. So his words made them uncomfortable. And they damned near ignored him.
CBS hiring of Reince Priebus reignites debate about paying liars to defend Trump on TV news
The corporate-media position that it’s so important to have pro-Trump voices represented on air that it’s worth paying known liars to lie is really ticking off some viewers.
Democrats lay out an epic narrative that the Trump team cannot rebut
We heard a compelling, evidence-packed story Wednesday about how Trump's sordid plot played out step by step by step. If Trump’s team simply responds with invective and shrugs, will news organizations realize that's not a real rebuttal?
Big Journalism completely fails to impart the Big Picture
Here's the story the mainstream media didn't tell you: The first real day of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump was an epic exercise in raw political power. Members of the Trump team, effectively led by Mitch McConnell, put forth no plausible arguments to support their position. But they didn’t have to. Because they had the votes.
Three things the media should be telling you about Mitch McConnell
Mitch McConnell is not a hard guy to figure out. Indeed, countless, extensive profiles of him have concluded the same thing: that he is singularly uncomplicated. His only ideology is power.
PRIMERS
Seven calls to arms for political journalists
The press – and the truth – are under siege like never before. But political journalists don’t have to take it sitting down. They can actively defend their core values, which include honest governance and an informed electorate. Here’s a look at some of the ways they could do that.
That thing that just happened didn’t just happen in a vacuum
The ultimate antidote to what ails political journalism today is context. And that doesn't necessarily mean doing a lot of extra reporting. It may mean just remembering.
FALSE EQUIVALENCE
FACT-CHECKING
Fact-checking needs to make way for reality-testing and gaslighting-fighting
Fact-checking has had huge practical and symbolic value. But as it’s currently practiced at the national level, it feels a bit quaint. Political journalism needs to find a better solution to calling out misinformation and disinformation – and soon.
TIMIDITY
One brave political reporter raises the bar for her timid colleagues
At a time when too many political reporters choose maintaining access over pushing back, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tough questions and called him out when he answered with lies. Then after he summoned her to his office and yelled at her, she went public.
Adam Schiff’s plaintive cry for truth and justice is also an indictment of political journalism
Too many elite journalists have kept a distance from the issues Schiff raised, preferring to simply present two sides, sometimes even falsely equated. So his words made them uncomfortable. And they damned near ignored him.
Democrats lay out an epic narrative that the Trump team cannot rebut
We heard a compelling, evidence-packed story Wednesday about how Trump's sordid plot played out step by step by step. If Trump’s team simply responds with invective and shrugs, will news organizations realize that's not a real rebuttal?
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