Donald Trump might have been the loudest and most powerful voice maligning the integrity of news media in a generation, but his unrelenting attacks draw from a stew of resentment, wariness, cynicism, and even hatred toward the press that has been simmering for years. At one time, journalism's centrality in reporting and interpreting important events was relatively unquestioned when a limited number of channels and voices produced a consensus-based news environment. The collapse of this environment has sparked a moment of reckoning within and outside journalism, particularly as professional news outlets struggle to remain solvent. Alternative voices compete for attention with and criticize the work and motivations of journalists, even as a growing number of journalists question their core norms and practices. News After Trump considers these struggles over journalism to be about the very relevance of journalism as an institutional form of knowledge production. At the heart of this questioning is a struggle to define what truthful accounts look like and who ought to create them or determine them in a rapidly changing media culture. Through an extensive accounting of Trump's relationship with the press, and drawing on in-depth interviews with journalists and textual analysis of news events, editorials, social media, and trade-press discussions, the book rethinks the relevance of journalism by recognizing the limits of objectivity and the way in which journalism positions certain actors as authority figures while rendering the less socially powerful invisible or flawed. This ethos of detachment has staved off vital questions about how journalism connects to its audiences, how it creates enduring value in people's lives (or not), and how diversity needs to be understood jointly at the level of production, reporting, and audience in order to rebuild trust.

News After Trump investigates what a global, anti-journalism movement has meant for news. Donald Trump and other far-right politicians challenge journalists with antagonistic rhetoric, even labeling the press an enemy. Journalists have responded by trumpeting their democratic importance, while some look inward to advocate for change to their profession. This book asks how attacks on the press, journalistic failures, and a rapidly shifting media culture all contribute to questions about the very relevance of journalism. Taking an expansive view of the contemporary media environment, this book provides insights about the journalistic, media, and political world that has emerged, and offers journalists a way forward to rebuild trust and authority.

What if the answer to America's declining trust in-and relevance of-journalism is a reimagined journalistic commitment to morality, community, and authenticity? News After Trump offers a provocative and compelling proposition: instead of doubling down on 'detached objectivity,' journalists must tap into their authentic moral voices, drawing upon their own experiences, communities, and identities as they engage with events and issues. It's hard to feel optimistic about journalism and democracy right now, and yet, I leave this book convinced that by tapping into their moral voice(s), journalists can help rebuild public trust and make the lives of would-be populist authoritarians much, much harder.