John Harwood
"Border crossings, inflation and violent crime have all declined.

"The US economy remains the strongest among Western countries.

"The media has given greater attention to the problems and their political consequences than to progress in addressing them."

Warped

Election stakes couldn't be higher. The media is still struggling to meet the moment

By John Harwood

Reporters pursued the president in a feeding frenzy. White House resistance didn’t deter them from pounding away, day after day, at his credibility.

Critics, however, believed the issue to be hyped out of proportion. To them, parts of the media had abandoned their traditional neutrality for a misguided moral crusade to uphold the rule of law.

“The gulf between what these critics are saying and what the press is doing,” a Washington Post columnist observed, “reflects among other things confusion about our role in American life.”

That assessment was not about President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump during the 2024 campaign. It was about the coverage 30 years ago of President Bill Clinton and questions surrounding his role in an Arkansas real estate deal known as Whitewater. (The Post columnist was my father, Richard Harwood, NF ’56.)

/snip