Trump 2.0 requires fearless news reporting, not social calls to Mar-a-Lago
I highlight several of the brave news outlets & journalists doing excellent work.
It has been less than two weeks since Donald Trump’s narrow win and already two of his fiercest media critics are bending a knee. Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski revealed they’d recently met with the president-elect at his Florida home for a social call, not an interview. What? These two helm one of the most-watched cable news programs in the country.
Instead of peppering Trump with questions about his appalling cabinet picks, frightening plans to round up millions of people and threats to court martial US military leaders, Mika and Joe opted for fence mending.
The blowback was fierce. Journalism professor Jeff Jarvis said it was a “betrayal of their colleagues, democracy and us all. It is a disgusting show of obeisance in advance.”
MSNBC’s Katie Phang wrote, “Normalizing Trump is a bad idea. Period.” Ben Meiselas of Meidas Touch: “Going to Mar-a-Lago to grovel for Trump is not something I can forgive. Perhaps others may. Not me.” History professor Thomas Zimmer: “A particularly egregious form of accommodating, legitimizing and normalizing power. Not particularly surprising. But a good reminder that, as a default assumption, this is what we should expect from established elites — it’s how the system tends to quickly fall in line. It’s dangerous.”
MSNBC television anchors Mika Brzezinski, left, and Joe Scarborough, right, co-hosts of the show "Morning Joe.” Photo Credit: AP /Steven Senne
While these critiques are all spot on, they miss something vital. Joe and Mika spent a year telling us who they were, what their values are and how they think about the world they report on every day. Deciding to get cozy with Donald Trump and telling us after the fact breaks the trust they spent years building. And, as I’ve said dozens of times, journalism requires trust. CNN’s Brian Stelter is now reporting that the pair arranged the meeting with Trump because they feared retribution from his incoming administration. Capitulating in advance is still the wrong response.
Luckily, we still have some news outlets that see this dangerous, unprecedented time for what it is and are responding with fearless reporting. The Guardian U.S., for example, is a real standout. The paper’s election coverage was excellent including its detailed series on the consequences we might face if Trump was elected. I highly recommend you give it a read.
The Guardian’s leadership also chose to build trust by sharing its coverage plans for the Trump presidency. U.S. editor Betsy Reed wrote to readers:
“We care deeply about accuracy — and our journalism is always fact-based and rigorous — but unlike other news outlets, we are open about our values and refuse to normalize authoritarianism. At this inflection point for our democracy, I wanted to reassure you that there will be no letup from us here at the Guardian. Our reporting teams are already preparing to do the vital work of holding the incoming Trump administration to account with fearless, principled journalism.”
Guardian publisher Katherine Viner weighed in on the particular threat Trump poses to freedom of the press:
“Trump is a direct threat to the freedom of the press. He has, for years, stirred up hatred against reporters, calling them an ‘enemy of the people.’ He has referred to legitimate journalism as “fake news” and joked about members of the media being shot. Project 2025, the blueprint for a second Trump presidency, includes plans to make it easier to seize journalists’ emails and phone records. We will stand up to these threats, but it will take brave, well-funded independent journalism. It will take reporting that can’t be leaned upon by a billionaire owner terrified of retribution from the White House.”
Another important aspect of The Guardian is that it has no paywall so that the reader supported journalism is much more readily available to news consumers. I’m also a fan of its new and very timely newsletter on ways to defend democracy as well as the superb voting rights coverage by reporter Sam Levine and media criticism from one of my absolute favorites, Margaret Sullivan. Plus, the Guardian just stopped using Elon Musk’s “X,” saying it was just too dangerous.
Another news outlet promising to meet the moment is Vanity Fair. Editor Radhika Jones wrote that the 111-year-old magazine will follow the truth wherever it leads:
“Given the widespread public concern that media outlets may be tempted to modulate coverage to placate the incoming administration, I want to reassure our readers that we have no intention of changing the way we approach our mission here at Vanity Fair. Our principles remain clear. We believe in freedom, democracy, and decency. We oppose racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and fascism. And we believe that a fearless, independent press, as enshrined in the US Constitution, is a crucial bulwark against authoritarianism.”
You will also want to read and support the non-profit Mother Jones, which writes, “At a time when billionaire owners of corporate media are making accommodations to power, our nonprofit newsroom cannot be bought, bent, or broken.” A recent piece that really grabbed my attention was from editor Clara Jeffrey who wrote about the heartbreaking impact of Trump’s election on women and girls.
ProPublica is also doing great reporting, and now has shared a detailed look at its plans for Trump 2.0 news coverage including focus areas like health care policy, rule of law and even Trump and billionaires.
Editor Stephen Engelberg wrote, “Our job is to give readers an independent, verifiable account of what’s happening, even if the president is calling us enemies of the people or bloodsuckers. At ProPublica, our mantra is that we bring the receipts to every story we publish. We are journalists, not leaders of the resistance.” He also included information on how sources can contact the reporting staff.
Given that Elon Musk is acting as the shadow president, it’s vital to have some tech focused media committed to telling important and unvarnished stories. Wired and 404 Media are good sources. So is The Verge, which was not intimidated like the LA Times or Washington Post and went ahead with its endorsement of Kamala Harris for president saying in part “a vote for Trump is a vote for school shootings and measles.” Verge Editor Nilay Patel says too many journalists hedge the truth but not those at The Verge. “Our instinct at The Verge has always been to earn our audience’s trust by showing our work. We talk about our background policy and ethics statement and the practice of journalism at every opportunity,”
Other fearless outlets you should consider reading and supporting include the States Newsroom outlets, The New Republic — including the frequent podcasts by reporter Greg Sargent — Slate — especially courts and law coverage by Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern, Inside Climate News, Bolts, The Philadelphia Inquirer — including Will Bunch’s do-not-miss columns, Courier Newsroom, Capital B News and The 19th News.
Of course, there are dozens of smart newsletters that will tell us the unvarnished truth during Trump 2.0. Those include Judd Legum’s Popular Information, Chris Geidner’s Law Dork, Ahmed Baba’s pro-democracy newsletter, Mark Jacob’s Stop the Presses, Jessica Valenti’s Abortion, Every Day and Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American.
Something has been unleashed that could forever reshape our country into a corrupt authoritarian nation. The Hungarian model, with its erosion of journalism, its limitations on freedom and its kleptocracy, is openly championed by those now in power. Joe and Mika notwithstanding, there are many courageous journalists who will not pretend trust and truth are things you can trade for favor. They deserve our support.
Jennifer Schulze is a Chicago journalist talking about journalism. You can read her columns at Heartland Signal and here on It’s the Democracy, Stupid. Follow Jennifer on Bluesky @newsjennifer.bsky.social or Threads @newsjennifer_schulze.