The relationship between U.S. presidents and the press has always been complicated. Thomas Jefferson wrote in a personal letter, “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” And Woodrow Wilson once advocated for “authority to exercise censorship over the Press to the extent that censorship … is absolutely necessary to the public safety.”
President Trump’s adversarial relationship with the press began the moment he descended the golden escalator at Trump Tower to announce his White House run. “Fake news,” “enemy of the people” and “dangerous and sick” are just a few of the barbs Trump has lobbed at the media, and reporters who cover him have faced open hostility as a result.
Will this unprecedented level of acrimony change the relationship between presidents and the press forever, or last only as long as Trump’s run in the Oval Office? To explore this question, Yahoo News Chief investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff and Yahoo News Editor in Chief Dan Klaidman (hosts of the Skullduggery podcast, which covers political scandals in the Trump era) sit down with a panel of presidential historians — including Douglas Brinkley, LBJ Foundation President and CEO Mark Updegrove and others — to discuss the Trump effect on the Fourth Estate.
Listen to the Session
Speakers
Vivian Schiller
CEO, Civil Foundation
@vivian • Visit Website
Daniel Klaidman
Editor in Chief, Yahoo! News
Visit Website
Michael Isikoff
Chief Investigative Correspondent, Yahoo! News
Visit Website