Within democracies, journalists and politicians endlessly interact to inform their audiences on issues surrounding their community. Although a journalist’s role differs from a politician’s, they depend on one another to accurately do their jobs — while various politicians work with journalists against their desire and vice versa. Teens, similar to any other individual that advocates for their desired political figures, usually take into consideration what the news expresses about their favored candidate. So, as interactions between politicians and journalists occur, teens absorb these transactions to become educated on current standings. In political settings, journalists work on behalf of their audience to ensure that politicians fulfill their job correctly, so when a reporter explores issues regarding the political system, politicians may release their anger onto the journalist themselves, therefore leading to scrutiny among journalists when they criticize the politician’s decisions.
Politicians have developed a sense of fear toward journalists due to the flow of information that can quickly spread to the public, especially when news showcases negativity. Prominent politicians around the world directly attack journalists through lawsuits and threats while also convincing the public that they should not trust news outlets. This drives leaders, specifically in the U.S., to belittle journalists and encourage platforms to forcibly remove their work from sites so that reporters can not denounce their political integrity.
In other words, a journalist’s job not only depends on providing information to the public about recent happenings in political settings but also on investigating the claims of those in power. Understanding the depth of what politicians say becomes important for communities because citizens desire to know of any misinformation that has spread from their political figures or when official offices mislead their constituents.
“And then the other thing that journalists who are covering elections are dealing with in recent months and years is just the proliferation of disinformation online that voters are receiving. Voters are reading disinformation that’s going to affect how they vote. And in some cases, some of that disinformation is coming from political actors inside the country. In some cases, it’s coming from what we’ve learned in the 2016 election, that it was even coming from Russia. Foreign actors were trying to influence our election by spreading disinformation online, so we have a very serious problem about how to get accurate, reliable information about elections and campaigns to the public,” Journalism Professor at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, Tori Ekstrand, said.
As journalists report directly from elections or during campaigns, reporters hold different roles during this process to maintain their legitimacy as news correspondents. The Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS), an academically driven project to routinely assess the status of journalism around the world, created four distinct roles for journalists to fill. These roles help minimize misinformation and allow journalists to obtain different ways of thinking, including myriad perspectives within articles and create unbiased work. Also known as role orientations, these specific contributions include the two politically associated roles: the monitorial and collaborative roles.
The monitorial role includes journalists who will keep citizens informed on major social and political developments. Journalists who take part in this role directly communicate and build relationships with politicians while also informing their peers on information received to build new perspectives. This position allows for an influx of first-hand information when reporting on political events — an almost watchdog effect towards politicians. Journalists usually take this place to discover ideas or decisions they find suspicious from politicians while also further investigating these topics, which may ultimately lead them to scrutinize political business.
Journalists who act in a collaborative role focus on building a partnership with governments and they help support their ideas through thorough collaboration. While not directly working with major politicians such as those journalists under a monitoring role, these reporters help encourage socioeconomic development among citizens while also working together with other news sites to provide beneficial information for both the readers and governments. Not only do politicians find these journalists to a less of a threat to their political image, but politicians utilize the efforts from these reporters to share and explain their political decisions to help advocate for similar public views. Collaborative journalists work to enhance political opinions from citizens to better align politicians with their people and avoid conflict.
“I do think [it’s vital for journalists to interact with politicians], but I think it’s also very important to draw lines. One of the most important. And one of the things that’s really important is having a good relationship with politicians, meaning that you’re able to call them up and ask for commentary, be able to not necessarily trust every word they say, but be able to call enough people to get a sense of where the truth might lie and get enough people who trust you as a journalist that even if they can’t speak to you directly on an issue, they might be able to draw up a breadcrumb in your lap and say, I can’t talk to you about this, but here’s who might. Here’s the person who might be able to. And that is really valuable. But that does mean that you have to be thoughtful about who you go after and when you go after them and what tools you use,” Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. Government and Politics teacher Carolyn Galloway said.
Presidential interactions with journalists
Through these journalistic roles reporters take on, the bulk of these individuals primarily interact with politicians, especially during presidential elections. During the recent 2024 election, Reporters Without Borders — an international non-profit organization that aims to defend and promote the freedom of information — found that current President Donald Trump insulted, attacked and threatened the press at least 108 times across public speeches and remarks between September 1 and October 24. Trump expressed his lack of care and safety towards journalists in a Pennsylvania crowd, for example, while also filing a lawsuit against CBS’s 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. The President also threatened to withdraw licenses from broadcasters whom he disapproved of selfishly.
In various cases, the power politicians and presidential figures hold has taken over their influence within our democracy, leading to unjust relationships and lifestyles for journalists. These threats from politicians stem mainly from the idea that few leaders will not openly accept scrutiny or criticism; nevertheless, they welcome dislikement or negativity to their committee. While Trump exemplified the attack of the press even before his inauguration, this viewpoint as a politician follows past presidential figures such as former President Richard Nixon, creating historical parallels between various presidencies and the press.
Nixon, as well as countless other past politicians, has stood out due to his various conscious efforts to undermine the press’s accountability. The former President expressed to his then-cabinet that the media would run lies about them if they did not treat the press with heightened contempt. While Nixon’s campaign relied heavily on the media during his time in office, he believed that the media needed to fall under effective discreditation to keep his identity concealed from events such as the Watergate Scandal. To do this, the President demanded that the Nixon Department of Justice enforce antitrust charges against three broadcasting networks: the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). Now, in a recent age, Trump explained during an interview with journalist Lesley Stahl that he repeatedly attacked the press in an attempt to discredit journalists, similar to Nixon’s public rhetoric.
To continue February 25, the Trump Administration declared that it would begin choosing which media outlets would enter the White House to report on political news. Especially with the influx of citizen journalists entering the journalism field, this shift allowed newer journalists to build their foundation at the start of their careers. While this order brings intense controversy among the well-known publications limited to coverage, including the Associated Press (AP), this action will allow for a wider range of journalists to access the White House for press-engaged events.
“The past month has seen the White House prohibit AP from covering events at the White House. And the AP is now taking my former employer to court, taking the White House to court over that. We’ve seen efforts to discredit the press a lot and you know, politicians are saying that they’re the fake news media. These are the ‘bad guys’ and these are the ‘good guys’, right? Basically saying, you know, we prefer this media over that media and those people lie and these people don’t. And we literally had politicians in the last several years call press people the enemy,” Ekstrand said.
This new extension of journalists in the White House fuels the field for independent journalists, or citizen journalists, eager to build their credibility and foster upcoming news outlets. For example, independent journalist Jessica Reed Kraus helps further opportunities for reporters through the initiative by showcasing how granting equal access to the President and the White House for citizen journalists can prove a powerful shift in our democracy.
While this change in environment for citizen journalists impacts their way of reporting, individuals may deem their way of reporting as daunting. In various cases, citizen journalists find ways to cut corners while gathering news to entice their audience with information they prefer. On the other hand, agencies rely on these citizens to approach political scenes with ease not to cause commotion. Although citizen journalists now hold a wider range of freedom to report on political topics, Americans now hold a lower degree of respect for these individuals due to the risk of possible misinformation.
In all, the importance of building strong connections with individuals becomes important as journalism and political careers expand and grow. Throughout NC, classes such as Yearbook, which hosts a safe space for student journalists who adore the realm of photography, help to leave an impact on the NC community. Bonds between the Panorama staff members, as well as the bonds within The Chant’s publication office, grow similar to the relationship between a politician and a journalist since collaboration and interaction become hard to avoid in both fields.
“My adviser, Mrs. [Cara] Hamilton, has influenced my role as a journalist because of how supportive she has been through my first year on the Yearbook. The room has always felt like a safe space where we can collaborate on the different pages of the book. Mrs. Hamilton never failed to offer me any help and I was always able to bounce ideas off of her,” senior Maya Daniels said.
As journalists guide their way through the realm of journalism and encounter challenges and hurdles they must overcome, the competition between a reporter and politician continues to reign due to the idea that they both enjoy attention from the public.
Whether an individual resides as a student journalist, citizen journalist or a fresh politician out of college, these figures help bring light to social issues in times of uncertainty. While politicians hold different responsibilities in comparison to professional journalists, both fields ultimately work together to create content for the benefit of communities around the globe.
