Covering any presidential transition is a challenge, but just more than two months into Donald Trump’s second term the work has been unrelenting, especially for the Justice Department press corps. Justice Department correspondents spoke with NPF’s Paul Miller fellows describing the effort to deliver meaningful journalism at a break-neck pace.
3 Key takeaways:
1. The accountability continues
Even when an administration changes, accountability in journalism does not.
“I don’t think our piece of the accountability dance has changed at all, even if other actors in town have sort of changed what they do and how they think about it,” Devlin Barrett, a Justice Department and FBI reporter for The New York Times said.
Sources aren’t necessarily relying on Congress yet for accountability on the administration’s actions, so it’s up to journalists, according to Carrie Johnson, a National Justice Correspondent at NPR.
“What I’m hearing from people is the journalists are where the accountability needs to happen, and I think that’s true, and I think that’s a very important responsibility and one that we work pretty hard every day to try to carry out,” she said.
It doesn’t have to be a “gotcha” story either, according to Perry Stein, a Justice Department reporter at The Washington Post.
“There’s so much news going on. I think it’s important to just get this on the record to say, look, this is what happened. And that may be the accountability story,” Stein said.
2. There’s value in what journalists do; make the mission transparent for sources
In order to gain trust with sources, they have to understand the value of contributing to an informed public, according to Pierre Thomas, the Chief Justice Correspondent at ABC News.
“It’s a process of connecting with people where you can convince them there’s value in what we do and that they have a role in informing the public,” he said.
Johnson suggests attending events after work that may attract government contractors or others related to the work.
“I also found that it was a demonstration that I was a serious person and was seriously interested in the people I was covering to show up for those kinds of things,” she said.
Rejection from sources is also just part of the job, according to Stein.
“I always joke with my non-journalist friends that I’m super good at rejection because I get it all the time,” she said.
3. How to combat the “anti-context machine”
Context in stories is incredibly important, especially with the prevalence of the Internet, according to Barrett.
“Social media and the Internet generally are sort of like anti-context machines,” he said.
It also doesn’t have to be “pretty,” according to Barrett.
“And to be honest, we don’t get paid to write poetry and we don’t get paid to be pretty. We get paid to explain why this matters,” he said.
You also don’t have to be an expert on the beat to cover it.
“I’ve just found it to be a beat where anyone who’s got a lot of curiosity and willing to work hard can drive,” Thomas said.
Access the full transcript here.
