| Abstract |
"Donald Trump's rapid - and seemingly improbable - ascension from reality show star to polarizing president threw into question many assumptions about how our media and political worlds work. His habit of lying, history of racist statements, and disdain for conventions upended traditional journalist-elite relations. Taking an expansive view of the contemporary media and political environment during the Trump years, News After Trump portrays a media culture in transition. As journalism's very relevance comes to be increasingly questioned, we focus on how different actors - from Trump to small-town newspaper editors - use their cultural power to define journalism, assess its value, and question what the news should look like. The chapters chronicle how Trump and his allies turned attacks on journalists into a central component of a rightwing populist formula, with journalists positioned as just one more self-interested, out-of-touch elite. Over time, this anti-press rhetoric escalated, with Trump regularly debasing journalists as the enemy of the people. While journalists responded by falling back on cherished norms of objectivity and neutrality to trumpet their democratic role, many among their ranks questioned whether past commitments still had value in a changed media culture and if their reporting practices did more harm than good. To move forward, News After Trump does not advocate for a nostalgic return to the past, but instead argues for a journalism that is more assertive in speaking in a moral voice on behalf of communities, more comfortable in rendering judgments, and more self-aware of its shortcomings"-- Provided by publisher. |
