Reflector

In the wake of the election results, many Democrats are doing some serious soul-searching (and a fair amount of blame-gaming) to understand why they lost. But it’s not just Democrats reckoning with their loss of trust from the American people. New polling from places like Gallup [https://news.gallup.com/poll/651977/americans-trust-media-remains-trend-low.aspx]shows historically high levels of distrust in journalists. Meaning that a profession built on the delivery of trusted information is now in the midst of a full on crisis of mistrust.  How did we get here? What are we doing wrong? And what, if anything, can we—or should we—do to regain that trust? For today’s episode, we take a frank look at the media’s role in this crisis with Ben Smith and Nayeema Raza. Ben Smith is the co-founder of Semafor [https://www.semafor.com/], a news organization with ambitious goals to redefine global journalism. He’s the former media columnist for The New York Times and was the founding editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, leading it from a scrappy startup to a Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom. Ben’s journalism roots trace back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, where he covered crime and New York politics for local papers. He was part of the early journalism blogging era online, reported on the 2008 Obama campaign for Politico, and embodies a no-nonsense ethos to journalism that I’ve come to admire over the years. Nayeema Raza is (alongside Ben) the co-host on Semafor’s media podcast Mixed Signals [https://open.spotify.com/show/4gWDzNS1SOSPWwHJum388W?si=51bb76193f7a4c75], which explores how money, culture, and politics shape everything we read, watch, and hear. She has worked as executive producer at The New York Times Opinion and frequently guest-hosts Open to Debate. With a background in film and documentary, Nayeema often draws fascinating parallels between newsroom trends and what’s happening in Hollywood and beyond. As you’ll hear, the three of us don’t always agree. In this episode, I’m a bit more open with my views than usual—we even scrutinize some of my past work. Together, we wrestle with the causes and context of the current trust crisis in journalism, explore historical parallels, discuss the disruption of the internet and influence of social media, and unpack lessons from the Trump era so far. Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more: GROUND.NEWS [https://ground.news/reflector] To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber [https://www.reflector.show/].

Here comes the much-anticipated (maybe dreaded? Obnoxiously over-covered?) 2024 US presidential election, and no one knows who will emerge as the next President of the United States. Today’s episode was inspired by a conversation I had last week with a former colleague from The New York Times. She shared her concern that we in the media might have done it again. That just like in 2016, we may have failed to capture why Donald Trump, one of the least popular presidents in US history and an undeniable outlier, could be so close to winning another term in the White House.  So with the election just days away, we’re diving in to unpack that story. Our guests are Mike Pesca, a veteran of NPR and host of The Gist [https://open.spotify.com/show/3Q5MaJxR4gS4CwgZUCCYVt?si=8473cb125efe47f6], the longest-running daily news podcast. Mike has covered presidential campaigns and politics for over two decades. While he’s been a sharp critic of Trump, he’s done an excellent job of explaining why so many Americans see a vote for Trump as a vote for their own self-interest. We’re also joined by Emily Jashinsky, a Washington correspondent for Unherd, co-host of the Undercurrents [https://open.spotify.com/show/0at37Iw6oNngXnAIuvnxGa?si=577db5442c514860] podcast, and someone who reports from within the conservative media ecosystem. She does a fantastic job documenting the rise of the New Right and its split from the fading conservative establishment. No matter who you are planning on voting for - or even if you aren’t going to vote at all - we’d love to hear from you. You can always reach us at hello@reflector.show [hello@reflector.show]. Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more: GROUND.NEWS [https://ground.news/reflector] To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber [https://www.reflector.show/].

Wars—like the one between Israel and Hamas—are not only fought on the battlefield, but they are also fought through stories. In today’s episode, I interview Eman Abdelhadi [https://humdev.uchicago.edu/directory/Eman-Abdelhadi], an American academic, activist, and organizer in the Free Palestine movement. Abdelhadi shares a perspective on Israel that, while controversial, is gaining influence across the United States, particularly on college campuses. A recent Pew survey [https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/02/younger-americans-stand-out-in-their-views-of-the-israel-hamas-war/] revealed that 34% of Americans under 30 find Hamas' reasons for fighting Israel to be valid, and only 16% of Americans support continued U.S. military aid to Israel. If you align with the Free Palestine movement, Eman’s story may resonate deeply. If you support Israel, it may be challenging and even frustrating to hear. But regardless of where you stand, I believe there is value in listening to a view that is shaping more and more of the American discourse on this issue. If you’d like to share your feedback on this or any episode, you can reach us at hello@reflector.show [hello@reflector.show]. Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more: GROUND.NEWS [https://ground.news/reflector] To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber [https://www.reflector.show/].

Today: Fears of another world war, a high stakes presidential election and the very divisive subject of American support for Israel. We speak with progressive voters who are considering staying home in November, even if it could lead to another Trump presidency. We unpack our reporting from the 2024 March on the DNC, examining the ways it compares—and doesn’t—to the 1968 March on the DNC. We also mention that a short video I took at the march went viral on Instagram, receiving millions of views and thousands of revealing comments about our divided country and how some Americans view the protesters. Andy’s viral instagram video from the DNC: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-3pPrkMwTX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link [https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-3pPrkMwTX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link] Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more: GROUND.NEWS [https://ground.news/reflector] To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber [https://www.reflector.show/].

We are hard at work on several stories that we hope to share with you soon, but today we’re trying something a bit different. We're bringing you a roundtable discussion with Sarah Isgur and Mike Pesca on why politicians and world leaders lie—and what those lies reveal about the state of our society. Sarah Isgur is a lawyer, senior editor at The Dispatch, host of the legal podcast Advisory Opinions, and co-host of Left, Right & Center. She’s previously worked in all three branches of the federal government, including a few years in the Trump Administration, and has been involved with three different presidential campaigns. Mike Pesca, a veteran of NPR, is the host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news podcast, and has covered presidential campaigns and politics for over two decades. We dive deep into whether we’re living in an era of especially egregious lies, the incentives for politicians to lie, how we classify and fact-check lies, and much more. I’ll also add that by the end, we wind up in a place I didn’t expect. LINKS: Listen to Mike Pesca on The Gist [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gist/id873667927] Listen to Sarah Isgor on Advisory Opinions [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/advisory-opinions/id1490993194], Left, Right & Center [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kcrws-left-right-center/id73329771] and follow her writing at The Dispatch [https://thedispatch.com/].  Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more: GROUND.NEWS [https://ground.news/reflector] To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber [https://www.reflector.show/].