“Journalists are just people”: Understanding the challenges of campaign journalism

CNN’s Jeff Zeleny covers Abigail Spanberger’s final rally on November 2 (Photo via Jonnika Kwon)

JONNIKA KWON: Imagine perpetually living off of three hours of sleep and gas-station snacks all while tirelessly traversing the country. Then add in threats to your personal safety and no guarantee your job will last past November. This is the reality of a campaign reporter, and why CNN’s MJ Lee described the job as “all-encompassing.” While being a campaign journalist offers the allure of having your work reach millions of readers and the opportunity to speak truth to power, these high stakes only add to the pressures that make campaign journalism one of the most difficult—and necessary—jobs imaginable.

In pursuit of gaining a firsthand account of reporting on the campaign trail, I spoke with several journalists and consulted The Boys on the Bus by Timothy Crouse and Unbelievable by Katy Tur. After hours of reading and over half a dozen enlightening conversations, I am more certain than ever that campaign journalism remains a foundational pillar in our representative democracy, though it faces a plethora of daunting challenges. Chief amongst the threats confronting campaign journalism are the death of local newspapers, the demonization of the press, and public mistrust in journalists. 

Why local media matters

Americans consistently demonstrate having higher levels of trust in their local newspaper. One of the reasons for this trend is because these outlets tend to be more “down-the-middle” in their coverage, as explained by E.J. Dionne, an op-ed columnist for the Washington Post and a commentator for NPR, PBS, and MSNBC. Due to their local purview, these publications primarily focus on issues of particular interest to a state or city. Consequently, the dwindling existence of local news organizations translates to a diminished capacity to bring people within the same community together, regardless of their political leanings. As they close down, the news is becoming more nationalized and thus more polarizing. Dionne went so far as to say that their vanishing presence is causing us to lose one of the “really powerful forces building community in a country that needs more of it, not less of it.” 

The decline in local papers is also leading to a decreased probing of candidates’ positions. In the modern attention economy, where 10-second sound bites on TikTok carry the day, candidates have less incentive to sit down for in-depth interviews. Thus, a thoughtful scrutinizing of policy stances has been replaced by inflammatory content relating to hot-button cultural issues. 

Simone Carter, a local government reporter in the state of Washington, said that what worries her most about the shuttering of local papers is that “so much is not going to be able to be explored or exposed,” especially as it pertains to exposing corruption and holding politicians accountable. 

What do journalists do, anyway? 

As MSNBC’s Katy Tur expressed in her recent memoir, Unbelievable, “We really have to start teaching journalism in elementary school. People don’t even understand the basics of what we do anymore.” Nearly every journalist I spoke to agreed with the sentiment underlying this statement. 

Americans have a seemingly unquenchable appetite for election-related information. However, few actually understand what goes into such reporting. In the modern media age, campaign journalists don’t just convey information. They act as curators, fact-checkers, analysts, and watchdogs. However, the public increasingly views reporters as mere partisan actors in disguise. 

Several journalists I spoke with conveyed frustration about this jaded perception of their work. When I asked what he wished people understood about political reporting, Jared Serre, a reporter for FFXnow and ARLnow, said, “Not everyone is in it to push an agenda.” Mabinty Quarshie, a print journalist for the Washington Examiner, said that, “there is a lot the public doesn’t understand about covering politics,” starting with the fundamental differences between commentators, campaign operatives, TV anchors, and print reporters. People tend to meld this diverse group all under the banner of “political reporter,” contributing to the perception that all journalists have some type of angle. 

Carter stated that the modern media landscape concerns her because “our readership is losing touch with what actual journalism is” due to an onslaught of low-quality content and false information. She says that even members of her own family don’t understand what she does on a daily basis, and the behind-the-scenes fact checking and verification that goes into her work. 

“The enemy from within”: how toxic rhetoric affects campaign journalism

The widespread mistrust of the media is currently operating to create and perpetuate disdain for journalists by enabling those in power to demonize journalists. Campaign reporters face an especially acute manifestation of this development because, in the words of Tur, their job is to “[tell] us things about the world we’d rather not know.” People forage strong allegiances to candidates, and thus view journalistic probing of politicians as personal attacks. 

Several reporters stated that they have either witnessed or been impacted by the growing vilification of the press. Carter said that the second Trump administration has ushered in a “resurgence in the public’s distaste for the media.” She shared how heightened partisan tensions have made journalists of various ideological leanings targets of violence and harassment.

Dana Milbank, a columnist for the Washington Post said that the state of the media is a reflection of politics more generally. Serre echoed this sentiment, asserting that the demonization of the press, “builds off of the rhetoric of candidates.”

The demonization of journalists is one manner in which profound public misunderstandings of the goal of the press can manifest in dangerous ways. The famed Washington Post reporter David Broder once proclaimed that political campaigns “ought to belong, in some real sense, to the public.” However, due to both the changing information ecosystem and the toxic political climate, an alarming number of Americans no longer see the press as performing this fundamental duty. 

So what do we do now?

Due to the increasing vilification of the press and the fragmenting news ecosystem, it’s even harder for campaign reporters to build trust with their audience. And, in the words of MSNBC’s Katy Tur, “what journalists need most of all is trust.” Thus, the question turns to how we rebuild public faith in the press. 

Carter said that media literacy classes in schools would be a “wonderful idea,” characterizing it as a “crucial first step” to building public understanding of the media space. She also stated that newspapers must be more transparent with their readership. Her company, McClatchey Publishing, is currently undergoing an effort to make reporters more “front-facing” in a broader attempt to humanize journalists. This includes having reporters record short video clips introducing themselves. Even these small actions go a long way in “building on that trust” by allowing readers to see that “journalists are just people,” as Carter described. 

It takes all of us

While we like to bemoan all the problems in the media, the press reflects the political climate, and ultimately, the political climate is shaped by all of us. This isn’t to say that any one person can singlehandedly fix all the problems in American politics. However, it does mean that each of us has a hand in doing so. While the current age of rampant misinformation requires us to think critically about the news we are consuming, we have an equally important duty to combat attempts to demonize journalists. The strength of the free press depends equally on the journalists who dedicate themselves to truth-seeking and the public’s appreciation for their work. 

Individual actions and attitudes matter more than we think. So the next time you encounter campaign coverage, whether it be on the nightly news, while scrolling on Instagram, or the old-fashioned way in the Sunday paper, consider the journalist behind the piece and their daily sacrifice and dedication in service of your right to be informed.

Jonnika Kwon ‘29 is studying public policy in the CAS. She is from Seattle, WA