Media Scramble To Find Footing — And Stay Relevant — In The Trump Era

Over the first six months of President Donald Trump’s second term, nearly everyone in media — from individual journalists and pundits to entire outlets — has scrambled to gain solid footing.

Some have fared better than others as they attempt to navigate what seems to be a constantly shifting landscape. The majority have opted for one or more of a few clear strategies: rewriting history, gaslighting the audience, or attempting to restructure, well, everything. Some have even chosen different strategies for specific issues, jumping back and forth between them whenever necessary.

Let’s take stock of where journalism is today.

Rewriting History.

The key offenders here are the pundits and journalists charging ahead with damning reports on former President Joe Biden’s obvious cognitive decline — and even publishing books about it — as though they played no role in hiding Biden’s condition while he was in the White House.

One such book, “Original Sin,” came from CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson. Both authors defended Biden from conservative attacks while it was clear to anyone capable of basic observation that the former president was a long way off his game.

As The Daily Wire previously reported,with regard to Tapper:

During the 2020 campaign, Tapper came to Biden’s defense multiple times when Republicans criticized him for struggling during his campaign speeches. In January 2020, Tapper reposted a clip of Lara Trump saying she felt “kind of sad for Biden” for struggling to “get the words out.” Tapper commented on Trump’s remarks on social media, writing, “Whatever you think of @JoeBiden and his politics, worth reading this remarkable piece about his stutter,” and linking to an Atlantic article that argued that voters should “be more understanding” of Biden’s gaffes because “he’s still fighting a stutter.”

And on Thompson:

“Biden’s quirky aphorisms are sometimes weaponized by Republicans to insinuate the 80-year-old president is in mental decline,” Thompson wrote. “But Biden has been using unique phrases for years — but even some of his aides aren’t exactly sure what he means by them.” Thompson added, “There are legitimate questions about Biden’s age and stamina as he runs for a second term — but his off-beat proverbs are just Biden being Biden.

The next of these books came from Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Dawsey. He addressed the outsized role that the president’s embattled son, Hunter Biden, had played on the campaign — and how he may have influenced President Biden’s 11th-hour pardons.

As The Daily Wire reported at the time:

“Right, so one of the scenes in the book is that the President has a big month ahead in June of 2024, he has European travel, he has the first debate with Donald Trump, as you saw, it didn’t go so well,” Dawsey began. “But the thing he’s telling his friends he’s plays concerned about is that his son is not convicted in his court case.”

“He even offers to testify for his son,” Dawsey continued. “And he’s talking to folks nonstop around him … about his son, right? And he’s just constantly worried about him, he said the prosecutors are trying to break him, and as you see ultimately he decides to pardon his son.”

Dawsey’s book also revealed the lengths to which Biden’s aides went to keep him from taking a cognitive test in 2024 and to insulate him from the press, the public, and even members of his own cabinet.

And while the Wall Street Journal was ahead of most other outlets in publishing a damning report on Biden’s condition before his only debate with Trump, even the concerns raised by that report were obvious to anyone who’d been paying attention to the first three years of his presidency.

Gaslighting The Audience.

Following the release of new information about the Russian collusion hoax from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and a declassified congressional report, a number of outlets and personalities have adopted this strategy.

George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley addressed this during a recent Fox News appearance.

WATCH:

Jonathan Turley on the Russia Hoax: “The problem with Democrats and the media is that they’re trying to run the same grift on the same marks…They’re trying to tell the public, ‘Don’t look at this stuff, there’s nothing to see here.’ The public largely rejected that whole pitch… pic.twitter.com/pkXNPK9phU

— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) July 29, 2025

“The problem with Democrats and the media is that they’re trying to run the same grift on the same marks … They’re trying to tell the public, ‘Don’t look at this stuff, there’s nothing to see here.’ The public largely rejected that whole pitch when they reelected Donald Trump; it’s not going to really work,” Turley explained.

“This is really damning stuff. What was just released, in my view, undermines the testimony of people like John Brennan, but what Ratcliffe is talking about is exposing it all to show the public exactly what happened. This is the real Russian conspiracy. There wasn’t a Russian collusion conspiracy, but there was a Russian conspiracy: it’s when John Brennan went to Obama in 2016.”

Turley also suggested that of those involved in pushing the hoax on the American people, former CIA Director John Brennan was probably the most vulnerable to prosecution.

MSNBC has perhaps presented the most egregious example of this strategy. Instead of addressing the new information, the outlet has opted to repeatedly platform Brennan to refute it.

WATCH:

John Brennan was platformed again this morning by his favorite ‘news’ network to attack Tulsi Gabbard:

“I think she’s projecting. Obviously, she’s engaged in the politicization of intelligence.”

“She’s not interested in the truth.”

The hosts enthusiastically agree. https://t.co/tGGy4w2CRL pic.twitter.com/vPsGqauw8g

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) July 26, 2025

MSNBC has fully leaned in to gaslighting on other topics as well, platforming the poster child for politicization of the Justice Department — former Attorney General Eric Holder — to complain that the Trump administration is … politicizing the Justice Department.

WATCH:

Obama’s Wingman says he’s concerned about the politicization of Trump’s DOJ:

“This administration has used the power of the Justice Department to target political opponents.” pic.twitter.com/7ZyOoBIYxX

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) July 27, 2025

Restructuring Everything.

Among those outlets that appear to be restructuring to meet changing needs in the Trump era, the most obvious is The Washington Post. Things began falling apart at the Post before the presidential election, when Executive Editor Sally Buzbee abruptly exited the paper in June 2024. She left, according to several sources, because she was not on board with the new organizational structure CEO Will Lewis planned to introduce.

The outlet’s decision not to endorse former Vice President Kamala Harris — and to take a neutral stance in future elections — prompted a few resignations. More followed over several months as changes were made to the editorial and opinion sections to “champion timeless American values.”

Then, in late May, The Washington Post announced it was offering buyouts to staffers, primarily those who had been with the outlet for a decade or longer. The “absolute exodus” continued.

In early July, Lewis sent an email encouraging employees who did not feel that they were  “aligned” with the outlet’s new direction to seriously consider the buyouts — and a number of them have.

Several big names have announced their plans to depart The Washington Post — including political reporter Dan Balz, obituary section chief Adam Bernstein, reporter Philip Bump, as well as columnists David von Drehle, Catherine Rampell, and Jonathan Capehart. The Post’s original TikTok pioneer, Dave Jorgenson, legal reporter Ann Marimow, and sports writer Dan Steinberg also took the buyout.

Reporter Joe Davidson says he left after being told that one of his opinion columns was “too opinionated,” and fact-check editor Glen Kessler announced his departure on Monday.

It remains to be seen whether any of these strategies will work — and some outlets may not even get the chance to try.

As President Donald Trump and his allies repeatedly demonstrate a willingness to fight back against media outlets that run with stories they believe to be defamatory — and a knack for winning the ensuing lawsuits — some organizations may buckle under the strain. Just ask the left-wing Media Matters, which appears poised to collapse under the weight of government investigation coupled with lawsuits from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.