Ksenija Pavlovic McAteer: "We Must Fight for Democracy"

Ksenija Pavlovic McAteer is the founder of The Pavlovic Today, an independent American news outlet. As a White House Correspondent, she has covered Trump's Presidency closely. Ksenija is currently covering the Biden administration as a White House correspondent. She offers her daily analyses on current political affairs in D.C. through the “ GOOD MORNING DC, The Pavlovic Today's daily morning briefing into power center Washington DC, which goes every working day Monday to Friday. Ksenija speaks with Foreign Press and shares her valuable insights grounded in her long experience and international background. 

You grew up under a dictatorship in former Yugoslavia. How do media and journalism work in your home country compared to the United States of America?

Living under a dictatorship teaches you that you must fight for democracy; it’s not necessarily a given like people believe it is in America -- where you are born into democracy. I warned so many people that America was boiling up and could end up in violence and it did. People did not see what I was able to detect early on in the Trump term. I was not surprised by the events on January 6th, 2021. In the USA, the media is organized along partisan lines. In Serbia, during the dark days, the media was either pro-government or pro-Democracy, so I think to this day, I am not comfortable sipping cocktails on the Washington DC rooftops with members of the government. I am not a fan of access journalism. 

As an independent White House Correspondent, what was it like covering the Trump administration? 

I was asked recently how long I have been covering the White House, and my answer was “too long.” Four years of the Trump administration as a member of the WH press corps was like trying to do your work in the middle of the hurricane. But I believe I had access to the most unique window in political history and I am thinking of writing a book about it. Covering Trump reaffirmed my purpose in journalism and how important it is for journalists to be able to stand up for themselves and not be intimidated by either side.

Did you find former-President Trump's constant attack on journalists and claims of fake news to be a hindrance to your reporting? How did you overcome it? 

It was hard, but I do not think that it ever hindered my reporting; if anything, it reaffirmed my conviction that the free press must remain free and in my case, impartial.

What are your hopes for the future of journalism under the Biden administration?

I recently wrote an open letter to Jen Psaki and President Biden. It is fundamentally wrong to be asked to pay in order to report on the government and I told them that their new policy opens the door to pay to play journalism. The difference between Biden and Trump is that everything a journalist did, Trump took it personally, Biden does not. Biden respects the press. He is not hostile towards any of us, which is already making a better and more professional relationship between the press and his administration.

You made international headlines in 2017 by breaking the White House's camera ban and streaming a press briefing on the app Periscope. What inspired you to take this action? How did you feel about American citizens' reaction to your decision?

It was something that the independent press was already doing in Serbia during the media blackout in the 90s, no image, only sound. The goal was to get information out. I belong to that generation and I won’t accept any form of censorship. That’s why I will never sign up to the current cancel culture, political correctness, and all that woke jazz. I fear that Howard Stern and Bill Maher would be canceled if they were just starting out now; that’s the bizarre world we are living in right now. Christopher Hitchens closely studied Orwell and if you really study the work of Orwell, you know that he was deeply opposed to censorship, blacklisting, etc. I believe the same, and I do not have the fear to speak up and speak out. Perhaps because I have experience of a dictatorship, censorship, and the fight for freedom, which ultimately won through, so whether it’s Trump or Biden, if restrictions are placed on the free press in any shape or form, you will always find me on the front line of defense of the first amendment. 

What's one event that happened in your journalism career that has stuck with you? How come?

There are so many highlights as I have done so many interviews. My journalistic career has been full of adventures. French actress Marrion Cotillard told me: you have to be strong in front of people who want to destroy your life. My Steve Forbes interview was also memorable. We sat down and talked for 40 minutes. I love having the opportunity to tell interesting people’s stories and that’s what my career allows me to do.