Not intended as a comprehensive look at anything. DIscussion points for my graduate seminar in journalism ethics 2/1/2016.

1. Trump and the media
The president and the press at
a time of crisis and loathing

2. “Beat the Press”

3. “Beat the Press”
• Whose side do you take — The New York
Times’ or NPR’s?

4. “Beat the Press”
• Whose side do you take — The New York
Times’ or NPR’s?
• What should be the criteria for deciding that a
falsehood is actually a lie?

5. “Beat the Press”
• Whose side do you take — The New York
Times’ or NPR’s?
• What should be the criteria for deciding that a
falsehood is actually a lie?
• What should be the criteria for suggesting that
Trump doesn’t know the difference?

6. “Media Buzz”

7. “Media Buzz”
• Does Sean Spicer strike you as more measured
and reasonable here than in other settings?

8. “Media Buzz”
• Does Sean Spicer strike you as more measured
and reasonable here than in other settings?
• Does Spicer’s demeanor suggest that he has
been unfairly portrayed by the media?

9. “Media Buzz”
• Does Sean Spicer strike you as more measured
and reasonable here than in other settings?
• Does Spicer’s demeanor suggest that he has
been unfairly portrayed by the media?
• Does Spicer make a good case that the media
have underreported Trump’s successes?

10. David Fahrenthold

11. David Fahrenthold
• Kovach and Rosenstiel write about the
contributions that the public can make. How
did that play out in Fahrenthold’s reporting?

12. David Fahrenthold
• Kovach and Rosenstiel write about the
contributions that the public can make. How
did that play out in Fahrenthold’s reporting?
• Fahrenthold broke two of the biggest stories
in the presidential campaign. Did it matter?

13. David Fahrenthold
• Kovach and Rosenstiel write about the
contributions that the public can make. How
did that play out in Fahrenthold’s reporting?
• Fahrenthold broke two of the biggest stories
in the presidential campaign. Did it matter?
• “The point of my stories was not to defeat
Trump.” Do you believe him?

14. Jay Rosen

15. Jay Rosen
• Problems
– Terrible economic environment for journalism
(though a few outlets are doing better)

16. Jay Rosen
• Problems
– Terrible economic environment for journalism
(though a few outlets are doing better)
– A broken model of political coverage based on
horse-race stories aimed at insiders

17. Jay Rosen
• Problems
– Terrible economic environment for journalism
(though a few outlets are doing better)
– A broken model of political coverage based on
horse-race stories aimed at insiders
– An active effort to discredit the press, equating,
say, The New York Times with Breitbart News

18. Jay Rosen
• Solutions
– Don’t ignore Trump’s tweets, but don’t cover
them to the exclusion of more important news

19. Jay Rosen
• Solutions
– Don’t ignore Trump’s tweets, but don’t cover
them to the exclusion of more important news
– Be like Fahrenthold, building trust through
transparency about your reporting methods

20. Jay Rosen
• Solutions
– Don’t ignore Trump’s tweets, but don’t cover
them to the exclusion of more important news
– Be like Fahrenthold, building trust through
transparency about your reporting methods
– Listen by connecting people’s troubles with the
larger political issues of the day

21. Jay Rosen
• Questions
– Can we make people understand the value of the
“journalism of verification”? Or is polarization so
ingrained that there’s little to be done?

22. Jay Rosen
• Questions
– Can we make people understand the value of the
“journalism of verification”? Or is polarization so
ingrained that there’s little to be done?
– Some have suggested that we should, in fact,
ignore Trump’s tweets. What are the pros and
cons?

23. Jay Rosen
• Questions
– Can we make people understand the value of the
“journalism of verification”? Or is polarization so
ingrained that there’s little to be done?
– Some have suggested that we should, in fact,
ignore Trump’s tweets. What are the pros and
cons?
– Is talk about the rise of authoritarianism and the
shrinkage of press freedom real or hyperbolic?

24. David Frum

25. David Frum
• If authoritarian rulers succeed by flooding the
zone with falsehoods, what is the best way for
news organizations to counter that?

26. David Frum
• If authoritarian rulers succeed by flooding the
zone with falsehoods, what is the best way for
news organizations to counter that?
• If journalism is characterized as the enemy,
how can we reach that part of the public that
is pro-Trump?

27. David Frum
• If authoritarian rulers succeed by flooding the
zone with falsehoods, what is the best way for
news organizations to counter that?
• If journalism is characterized as the enemy,
how can we reach that part of the public that
is pro-Trump?
• What would happen if a scandal similar to
Watergate engulfed Trump? Would it matter?