A conversation with The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg
By Hanna Rosin
October 31, 2024, 11:41 AM ET
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has been very clear about the shape of his revenge against the mainstream media. He’s mused, a few times, about throwing reporters in jail if they refuse to leak their sources. He’s talked about taking away broadcast licenses of networks he’s
deemed unfriendly. He’s made it clear that he will notice if any member of the press gets too free with their critiques and do his best to get in their way. These last couple of weeks, we’ve gotten a signal that maybe his threats are having an impact. Both The Washington Post and
the Los Angeles Times had prepared endorsements of Kamala Harris, and their owners asked them at the last minute not to run them.
Media reporters floated the obvious question of whether the owners backed off to appease Trump. In this episode, we talk to Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic. This year, The Atlantic made the decision, rare in its history but consistent during the Trump years, to endorse a presidential candidate. (You can read the magazine’s endorsement of Kamala Harris here.) Goldberg talks about navigating both pressures from owners and threats from the administration. And we discuss the urgent question of whether the media, pummeled and
discredited for years by Trump, is ready for a second Trump administration.