‘We're going to need some heroes’

Back in another era, on Election Night 2016, I wrote a column for the Washington Post on a tight deadline. Like a lot of other people, I was stunned by Donald Trump’s election and I was white-knuckling through a column I didn’t expect to write.

But I had some hint of the troubles ahead — including for the press, and also more broadly, for American democracy. So, at my desk in that newsroom led then by the renowned Marty Baron, a newsroom with a proud legacy of intrepid Watergate reporting and the great Katharine Graham, I wrote a final line: “We’re going to need some heroes.”

Now, more than eight years later, I can see that some people and institutions have risen to the existential challenge that Trump has wrought.

Who has made a difference? Despite the widespread bashing of Joe Biden and his staff, and of the press who covered his administration, I’m grateful for that mostly sane and accomplished four-year respite. I’m grateful for truth-tellers like Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin and Russia expert Fiona Hill, prominent during the Trump impeachment hearings.

On the media side, I consistently admire ProPublica, especially its Supreme Court reporting — and some parts of traditional Big Journalism, mostly the strong accountability reporting from the staffs at the Times, the Post, the major networks and elsewhere. This week, the Wall Street Journal published reporting that revealed that the Trump organization has launched 12 overseas business projects, announced since the November election, mostly in the Middle East. And another WSJ piece revealed that 11 big companies are moving their legal work away from the firms that made protection-money deals with Trump. We need all of this reporting to know what’s going on.

Others who have stepped up: Columnists like Will Bunch at the Philadelphia Inquirer and individual voices like Lydia Polgreen at the Times, and Perry Bacon at the Post. Substackers like Judd Legum and Parker Molloy. Media watchdogs like Oliver Darcy with his Status newsletter. Publications like the Guardian US which not only do a solid job overall — with less tendency to normalize and sane-wash Trump — but also do it without imposing a paywall.

But what now?

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut deserves to be considered. Murphy has been one of the strongest, most intelligent and most persistent voices making sense of what’s happening in America since Trump was reelected. He has not stopped calling out the Trump administration’s outrageous behavior. And he seems to understand that Democrats need an economy-based message, something other than “Trump is bad.” A savvy social-media user, he has also gone out to meet with citizens at town halls, at gas stations and community centers — meeting people where they are.

Is he laying the groundwork for a presidential run in 2028? Maybe so, but I also think he’s also motivated by sincere distress at what has become of our country. I like his energy.

As of this week, Murphy launched a new political action committee, American Mobilization Project, to help organizations that fight cuts to Medicaid and to register young people to vote.

“The only thing that is ultimately going to stop Trump’s corruption and his destruction of democracy is mass mobilization,” Murphy said. Without that, he fears, it’s not a given that there will even be elections in 2026 or 2028. Among the first recipients are organizations in battleground states Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Keep an eye on Murphy. Readers, tell me who you think deserves our notice — whether in politics, media, or elsewhere in our society. Have you found any heroes, including in your local communities? I’d love to read, in the comments here, who you find inspiring and what you find encouraging.

I’ll note a few other developments:

— A reporter for a right-wing outlet dared to step outside the ideological bounds of MAGA media — and soon got fired, reported CNN’s Brian Stelter. Read about that here.

— Paramount Global (the parent company of CBS News, which I’ve been writing about here) reportedly offered a $15 million settlement to Trump to make unnecessary amends for a “60 Minutes” story last fall. Trump wants more — and an apology. Adding to the mess, Paramount chairwoman Shari Redstone has failed to respond to a formal request, with a deadline, from three U.S. senators, Darcy reported. They have expressed concerns that Paramount may be dancing close to criminal bribery in negotiating with Trump as the company tries to clear a path for its big, lucrative merger. And Lesley Stahl, the veteran CBS News correspondent, joined the critics of Redstone.

— Here are some encouraging words from former Labor Secretary Robert Reich and from Princeton’s Kenneth Roth about how the tide may have turned against Trump. I’m not sure I agree, but they are worth a look.

— In the Guardian US, I wrote about the harm done by the Trump administration to America’s beautiful national parks, and to our libraries, museums and the arts. I wrote: “Take away natural beauty, free access to books and support for the arts and you end up with a less enlightened, more ignorant and less engaged public. That’s a public much more easily manipulated.”

— And finally, I’m proud of my friend Molly Jong-Fast whose compelling memoir, “How to Lose Your Mother” was published this week. Molly, a Vanity Fair politics writer and MSNBC analyst, shares the pain of a terrible year in which her husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and when her famous (and sometimes neglectful) mother, Erica Jong, developed dementia. Here’s a gift link to the Washington Post’s rave review.

Thanks very much for being here. Below the subscriber message is a description of who I am and what I’m up to here. I’ll probably include it on my posts from now on, as there are many newcomers.

 

 

My background: I am a Lackawanna, NY native who started my career as a summer intern at the Buffalo News, my hometown daily. After years as a reporter and editor, I was named the paper’s first woman editor in chief in 1999, and ran the 200-person newsroom for almost 13 years. Starting in 2012, I served as the first woman “public editor” of the New York Times — an internal media critic and reader representative — and later was the media columnist for the Washington Post. These days, I write here on Substack, as well as for the Guardian US, and teach a journalism ethics course at Columbia University. I’ve also written two books and won a few awards, including three for defending First Amendment principles.

The purpose of ‘American Crisis’: My aim is to use this newsletter (it started as a podcast in 2023) to push for the kind of journalism we need for our democracy to function — journalism that is accurate, fair, mission-driven and public-spirited. That means that I point out the media’s flaws and failures when necessary.

What I ask of you: I’m grateful to have more than 46,000 subscribers here. Last November, I removed the paywall so that everyone could read and comment. I thought it was important in this crucial moment and might be helpful. If you are able to subscribe at $50 a year or $8 a month, or upgrade your unpaid subscription, that will help to support this venture — and to keep it going — but it’s not required. You’re more than welcome here either way. Thank you!

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