Trump and the Big Three US Newspapers

Tectonic shifts in the press in New York and Washington, DC. Although Trump courts social media and seems only concerned with appearing on television, media he controls and domesticates with his incessant ads and publicity, he hasn't forgotten about the country's three largest newspapers. He knows he doesn't count on them and pretends to ignore them. He has canceled subscriptions to many newspapers, both inside and outside the White House, but what they say always appears in the first paragraphs of the briefing his press team gives him every morning.

In this order:

First, The New York Times . If he didn't trust the former editor, he now trusts even less his son, A.G. Sulzberger, whom he didn't invite to the inauguration at the Capitol. The youngest owner of the three major US newspapers seems much smarter than his father. He appointed a very classic and cautious editor-in-chief, with a low profile that allows him to fly under the White House radar. Trump knows that he didn't bow to Biden's pressure either; both editor and director asked to be received by him at the White House and weren't invited; thus punishing the newspaper that dared to denounce the Democrat's senility and that claimed the need for another candidate; something that came too late. In this sense, Trump should be grateful, but in a newsroom of 1,600 journalists (the largest in the world), he knows there are too many independent journalists that he won't be able to silence.

So what are the Time magazine bosses doing to calm the beast in the Oval Office? Basically, they're doing what Jeff Bezos does at The Washington Post : toning down the editorial pages and opinion columns, which are being purged of critical commentators like Pulitzer Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, who has resigned. The editorial board has also been changed, and some of the most critical editorialists have been dismissed. One of them was a journalist who wanted to return to the newspaper's editorial staff, but the editor rejected her because he believed her positions compromised the independence and credibility of the news pages.

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Let's remember that in the United States, newsrooms are organized into two sections: opinion and news, with their respective editors answering only to the owner; both become aware of the content when it's published. The same applies to the newspaper's owner/editor. Although here, the tradition is still followed, as reflected in the phrase that Kay Graham, editor of The Washington Post , told her new editor, Benjamin Bradlee: "You're the boss, Ben; I only ask one thing: if I'm going to get a surprise the next day, let me know the night before."

Second, The Wall Street Journal . Trump knows it was always a conservative newspaper, especially in its editorial pages; so much so that many of its readers bought it only for its financial listings and its pro-big-money opinions. They weren't interested in anything else; thanks to this indifference, the Journal 's newsroom always enjoyed great freedom and established itself as one of the best in the world, on par with that of the Financial Times or The Economist because its closest rival, Bloomberg, never stood out beyond the torrent of quotes pouring from its terminals, prioritizing data over analysis.

Murdoch, who was also uninvited to Trump's inauguration, is remaining faithful to his usual ambivalence; and just as The Times of London opposed Brexit and The Sun supported it, here The Wall Street Journal 's Editorial Board is being highly critical of Trump, and, oh surprise, The New York Post is also sticking its hand out more than the White House tenant would like. The reason is clear: Murdoch has Fox News surrendered to Trumpism, some of whose most bellicose hosts even hold government positions.

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How long will this double-dealing be possible? It will likely continue as long as the economic chaos, the tariff war, inflation soars, the stock markets go even more berserk, and panic spreads over a seemingly inevitable recession that could even trigger another Great Depression. That's why The Wall Street Journal 's two newsrooms (opinion and news) operate in unison. This is why the financial daily surpasses The New York Times in sales and continues to grow its number of digital subscribers.

Third, Jeff Bezos's The Washington Post , which was invited to the inaugural ceremony. While the other two major newspapers are weathering the storm, the Graham family's former paper is bleeding to death, mired in dismissals and resignations on both newsrooms, although the hardest hit are the editorial and columnist divisions. Bezos, who in his first twelve years had not interfered with his journalists' autonomy, first banned an editorial supporting Kamala Harris and then ordered his columnists to tamp down their criticism and limit the freedom of their editorial writers.

The consequences have been tragic: layoffs, early retirements, falling sales, and a wave of digital subscriber losses. Even Marty Baron, its former editor, broke a long-standing tradition (not criticizing his successors) and wrote a devastating article in The Atlantic against Bezos and the Post's CEO. And if all this weren't enough, the paper still has an interim editor, a position that prestigious journalists in the country have rejected, and even a British one who accepted and resigned before taking office. That said, it's only fair to acknowledge that the newsroom has been less affected by Bezos's interventionism and continues to publish critical, authoritative, and courageous stories and reports.

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To stay strong in these turbulent times, the three major newspapers also agree on several other journalistic and business strategies, such as expanding their news offerings, prioritizing consumer topics, lifestyle, technology, new media entertainment, and more sports. The Times has integrated its former sports newsroom into The Athletic; its subscription policy has diversified with industry-specific offerings ranging from recipes to crossword puzzles and shopping guides. The Wall Street Journal , which pioneered sections such as Lifestyle, Personal Finance, and Health, is implementing a dual daily offering: Business and Life of Business. The same is happening with The Washington Post, where it has created a "third newsroom" (WP Ventures) dedicated to online advertorials and social media content, sponsored by companies and advertisers. Nothing makes a newspaper stronger than its bottom line.

Finally, a very significant fact: the fourth outlet that heads the daily press review published by Trump isn't a newspaper, but a magazine: The Atlantic, which has become the new bête noire of Trumpism. And we've already discussed it in these very pages.