Journalism in the Age of Trump (Two Parts)

Well. THIS is becoming more and more relevant, isn't it? In two parts -- here and here -- the New York Public Library hosted a brilliant set of panels, full of excellent, thoughtful minds. The focus, really, is on print journalism, and I'm eminently thankful for that.

My father was a journalist, during a time when newspapers more predominantly played a critical role in both the exposure and conveyance of news. The internet changed all that, and now there's a select number of newspapers really doing exceptional work around the country. My reverence for that profession is high, and some of the detailed reporting is unbelievably praiseworthy.

Television "journalism" is in a category of its own, and the sad reality is that people pay it any attention at all. It's a profession that, in a beautiful twist of irony, shares the abjectly low approval rating of the administration it condemns, and I find myself often -- in those unavoidable television-in-your-face situations -- saying things like "THAT'S NOT NEWS" when I see a reporter with the camera on themselves as they look at the eclipse, or in the middle of a snowstorm using words like "inclement" and "stay warm." It may be the most reprehensible form of theater.

The reason these podcasts are exceptional is that journalism is changing, and like all industries that transform, it happens for the better and the worse. There may be no greater divergence of better (print journalism) and worse (television journalism) than right now.