Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Taubman Center

The Burden of Speaking Truth: How Journalists Navigated the Trump Presidency

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Watch on Watson's YouTube channel.

During his Presidency, Donald Trump openly attacked the credibility of news reporting and routinely circulated misinformation. At the same time, the U.S. experienced mass protests for racial injustice and a health pandemic. While journalists consider and address the implications of this on public policies, we need to better understand the impact that this has had on political journalism today. This panel probes into the experiences of journalists from underrepresented backgrounds to better make sense of the aftermath. What was it like covering politics during this period? How has the journalism field shifted as a result? Why are diverse perspectives needed in political journalism?

Panelists include: Molly Ball (National Political Correspondent, TIME), Rebecca Ballhaus (Investigative Reporter, The Wall Street Journal), Gerren Keith Gaynor (Managing Editor, theGrio), Brittany Jones (Anchor/Reporter, Black News Channel), Sahil Kapur (National Political Reporter, NBC News), and Jamil Smith (Senior Writer, Rolling Stone). The panel will be moderated by Jonathan Collins (Assistant Professor of Education and Political Science, Brown University).