Journalism: Hopes and Expectations for the Biden-Harris Administration

Could better days for the free press be ahead of us?

That appears to be the general consensus among journalists after four tumultuous years under former President Donald Trump, who weaponized the term “fake news,” attacked media outlets for publishing stories critical of him and his administration, and spent the final weeks of his presidency demanding that Congress repeal Section 230, a move that, had it been successful, would have allowed him to pursue legal action against his political opponents.

Perhaps no moment truly encapsulated the stark difference between the Trump-Pence and Biden-Harris administrations than the moment White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki held the first press conference of President Joe Biden’s term in office. From the start, it seemed apparent that the new administration would distance itself as much as possible from the one before it.

The storming of the United States Capitol earlier this month showed many Americans—not to mention the world at large—how dangerous a war against information can be. For weeks, the former president had sought to delegitimize an election that President Biden won decisively. Biden's win was affirmed by countless people: governors, election officials, volunteers, and even independent observers from abroad.

The FBI has opened files on more than 200 individuals who either plotted or participated in the attack. Multiple arrests have been made and more are on the way. Those individuals will be held accountable. But they only went so far because the former president tapped into their worst fears: A good chunk of them genuinely believe the election was stolen. They believe this because they were tapped into highly organized disinformation networks that run the gamut from the corporatists at Fox News to the pages of Parler and seemingly innocuous moms' groups. How we address this problem will go a long way toward helping our democracy. Moreover, the actions of the former president and his surrogates inside and outside of government should disprove the notion that who leads doesn't matter, because it does.

In December 2020, CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour, one of the United States’ most celebrated names in journalism, accepted a career award from The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States (AFC-USA). Upon accepting the honor, she gave a speech in which she issued a stern denunciation of the Trump administration and its attitude toward the free press.

"From now on, hopefully, the Biden-Harris administration will respect journalism and its place in America's democracy,” she said. “We expect not to be accused of being fake news, not to be insulted by the highest official in the land anymore."

This isn't to say that the Biden administration will have a perfect relationship with the press, and that's okay. Government officials have their own agenda; journalists themselves are always aware of this and work hard to impart the value of verification, independence, and accountability in their reporting. But the crisis at hand requires a mobilization effort the United States has not seen since the Second World War, and neither that nor the basics of accountable governance can begin without a relationship founded in good faith.

But the political climate proved dangerously volatile well before the Capitol insurrection; we saw this in the ways journalists, including foreign correspondents, were victimized for simply doing their jobs, which is to hold power accountable. Matters were all the more complicated for foreign journalists. These journalists face a special task, often thrown into the mix without the network of sources or contacts more widely available to native-born journalists more accustomed to navigating the political scene without being saddled with the struggle of figuring out how to tackle the meat of a story without seeming culturally insensitive.

It is imperative that the Biden-Harris administration maintain an open line of communication with the press. A journalist’s duty is to the citizenry: Respecting and cooperating with the free press will go a long way toward healing the wounds of the last few years while ensuring journalists can serve their role effectively and independently.