Earlier in October, The Washington Post refused to endorse a candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election. The public was outraged that the paper, whose motto is “Democracy dies in darkness,” would not stand up for it in the wake of one of the most crucial elections.
Politically passionate readers may see the lack of endorsement as a betrayal to all The Post has done for journalistic integrity, but the underlying truth is that refusing to endorse a candidate protects that integrity — an integrity now threatened by the election of Donald Trump.
Recent elections have brought higher stakes for reproductive rights, education and the LGBTQ+ community. Voters are not the only ones who have become so obviously divided — the media that serves them has polarized just as much. 
According to Pew Research Center, 73% of Americans saw false headlines and inaccurate coverage regarding the 2024 election. Half the study’s participants said they couldn’t differentiate real and fake news. The study concluded Americans are more likely to trust information coming from their most frequently viewed news organizations.
Since the stunning polarization of elections has taken hold, news outlets, specifically broadcast channels, market towards a certain audience. It’s generally known that FOX News caters to right-leaning audiences, while CNN leans left. These stark boundaries can scare off undecided voters who may not believe partisan outlets are properly explaining all sides of the ballot.
The rise of “fake news” is nothing new — it’s been increasing since Trump’s first campaign in 2016. Repetition of the phrase has numbed and confused audiences to its meaning and caused Americans to distrust the media overall. Undecided voters no longer know what outlets to consult for complete, true information about candidates, and this uncertainty affects voter turnout.
News has become a spectacle rather than a source of reliable information. It is common to visit websites or switch on the television and see dramatic headlines paired with clips of pundits and their guests, arguing over politics, rather than having a civil discussion in order to understand each other’s conclusions. These fire-fueled debates further polarization and the notion that one’s opposing party is “intolerant.” Rather than bringing voters together to receive accurate information, the media is furthering party division and cultivating disrespectful discussions.
Since 2020, 54% of adults living in the United States say they get their news from social media. This only furthers the news divide.
Social media algorithms are echo chambers that feed political partisanism by reinforcing a viewer’s beliefs as fact. Rarely do users interact with posts online that contradict their personal ideologies. Thus, your feed is usually only filled with information about your side of the ballot, and any news you receive about the other has been filtered by ideology.
In particular, X has become a hot spot for politics, according to Pew Research Center. Since Elon Musk bought the website in 2022, users’ feeds have been filled with far-right advertisements, pushed by Musk himself.
This election, social media distorted the nation’s sense of election progress. Supporters of either candidate voiced online their predictions for landslide victories. The echo-chamber media we are fed makes us forget people vote for the other side and cause misunderstanding as to how close the election truly seemed. Echo chambers also discourage open-mindedness and close off civil discussion between opposing viewpoints.
With this week’s win for President-elect Donald Trump, free and accurate information is at risk. At a rally in November, Trump said he hopes someone attempts to shoot at him because “somebody would have to shoot through the fake news” to hit him and referred to the members of the press seated in front of him as his protective “glass.” Trump’s plans for the press once he gets back to the Oval Office include jailing reporters and stripping major news networks of their broadcast licenses, which completely ignore the sanctity journalists receive in the First Amendment.
With free press at risk, it is crucial for media outlets to report without fear. A Seattle Times article pointed out many news outlets reported on Trump’s comments at rallies and branded his remarks as “Trump being Trump.” These remarks should not be taken lightly — especially now. They should be framed in their potential to lead to unjust and disturbing policies that jeopardize freedom of the press.
The more the media reveals even the slightest bias, the more it threatens democracy. The wording of headlines, the tone used in interviews and even the structure of an article will affect a voter’s views, not only on the news outlet, but on the election as a whole. Journalism is one of the only careers protected by the Constitution. We must report like the fate of democracy is in our hands — because it is.
This Editorial was written by Opinion Co-Editor Hailey Pitcher.
