On election night, I went to bed as a student journalist. On Nov. 6, I woke up as an enemy of the American people.
Not by choice. Not by any action of my own. But by my mere association with the career I’ve worked to build for myself for the past four years — and by the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States.
In his first term, Trump made it abundantly clear that he was at war with the media. In speeches, he called journalists not just “the enemy of the people,” but also a “threat to democracy,” “fake,” and “crooked bastards” who should be prosecuted, according to the Columbia Journalism Review.
What’s ironic in Trump’s open animosity is that journalism is widely accepted across the globe as the very cornerstone of democracy. A free, independent press provides citizens with the facts and context they need to make informed decisions in a self-governing society. A free, independent press holds political leaders accountable to their constituents. A free, independent press — so essential to American society that its protection is enshrined in the First Amendment — ensures that truth prevails.
Trump views journalists’ truth-seeking mission as a personal attack, only when truthful reporting reflects poorly on the president-elect and his allies, of course. His self-declared “running war with the media” shaped his presidency from his first day in office, when he made the unfounded claim that journalists, “the most dishonest human beings on Earth,” lied about the size of his inauguration crowd, according to the Washington Post.
Marty Baron, former executive editor of the Post, famously retorted, “We’re not at war with the administration, we’re at work.” The catchphrase has been echoed by journalists since 2017.
But Trump’s hatred for reporters extends far beyond name-calling and the baseless rhetoric of “fake news.” His vitriol is infused with violence.
Before a crowd in Texas in 2022, Trump said that prison rape would be an effective strategy to persuade journalists to reveal their confidential sources, according to U.S. News and World Report. Earlier this month, he joked about using gun violence against journalists, telling a crowd in Pennsylvania: “To get to me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don’t mind that so much,” according to ABC News. The list goes on.
His supporters may claim that these statements are harmless, empty threats crafted to excite his base. But words have power — I’m a journalist, I should know.
In the most basic phrasing of the job description, presidents set the tone for our country: what our priorities should be, what our goals are and what we value. When that very leader normalizes violence against journalists and claims that journalists are criminals just for doing their job, the way citizens view journalism is inherently bound to change. It’s no coincidence that Reporters without Borders added the United States to their list of top six deadliest countries to be a journalist, right alongside Afghanistan and Syria, just one year after Trump first took office.
And if threats against journalists’ physical bodies aren’t enough, Trump has also threatened to change the very way journalism is done. He has vowed to bring the Federal Communications Commission — an independent agency that has regulated radio and television news for 90 years — under presidential control, according to NPR. He has implied that he would revoke broadcast licenses for the networks that wrong him (like ABC, simply because its moderators fact-checked the presidential debate). And Republican, MAGA-inspired influence in the Senate threatens to block the passage of The PRESS Act, a critical federal shield law designed to protect journalists’ process of gathering information from anonymous sources.
In short, my first four years in the workforce will be the most hostile environment the journalism industry has ever witnessed.
I should be terrified.
But I have never felt more determined to serve my country with the fair, verified, transparent news coverage it deserves.
And, to be blunt, I have never felt better about my job security. Journalists are needed now more than ever before, especially in the arena of verifying truth. Trump accumulated 30,573 false and misleading claims during his presidency (averaging about 21 a day), according to the Washington Post’s fact-checking database, and journalists are called to investigate all of them. While Trump thinks he is intimidating journalists with his tantrums, he is just giving us more to write about.
Let me assure you that in Reid Hall here at Washington and Lee University and in trusted newsrooms across the nation, you won’t find enemies of the people. You’ll find people who want to protect America from its enemies.
If you have trouble believing that, I invite you to spend an hour or two in Reid with us. You’ll find JOUR-101 students memorizing the Elements of Journalism — which state that a journalist’s first obligation is to the truth and first loyalty is to citizens. In Intro to News Writing, you’ll hear of the dreaded “fact error F.” Yes, that means you fail an assignment if you get any one fact, no matter how small, wrong. In a range of 300-level classes, you’ll find students evaluating journalistic ethical dilemmas, analyzing the legal frameworks for free speech and free press, and learning how to be leaders in newsrooms.
And let me also assure you that good journalism will not disappear, no matter what the next four years bring. On behalf of independent, transparent, unbiased journalists everywhere, I promise you that we will investigate every lead without fear or favor. We will ask the questions that you don’t have the opportunity to ask. And we will shine a light in the darkness where corruption, abuse, oppression and hatred blossom.
All we need you to do is listen.
So, to borrow from Baron’s phrasing, I’m not going to war after graduation this May. I’m going to work.
