After the election, I saw journalist Kalyani Saxena tweet out a request for advice from other journalists — especially other journalists of color — for navigating the next four years under an incoming Trump administration.

The responses to the tweet offer a wealth of advice, but social media platforms can also be fickle. So I set out to archive some of these looks ahead, particularly from movement journalists who have been oriented toward covering electoral politics without minimizing the other ways communities use their agency to shape the world around them.

That’s this week’s top story, which you can read in full on The Objective.

We won’t be in your inbox next Friday. We’re taking off the latter half of next week, so you’ll get the next issue of The Front Page on Dec. 6. If you’re also getting time off, I hope it’s restful and you’re able to spend time with people you love.

In this issue:

And also: Looking back at the tenure of former Scientific American editor-in-chief Laura Helmuth, layoffs at Hearst Magazines, ow NPR and its member stations are responding to declining radio audiences, and continued turmoil at the Washington Post.

—James Salanga

It’s a daunting job for journalists, especially those who are marginalized, to think through archiving the coming years of a president who has historically been vehemently hostile toward the press — with a pattern of targeting female reporters.

The second Trump administration comes amid an ever-rising tide of authoritarianism, borne out by surveillance and police violence at Palestine solidarity protests, the rise of Cop Cities across the country, and growing mask bans. The specter of Project 2025 looms over Trump’s second term, threatening the dismantling of what little social safety net exists.

The future president has already promised to begin deporting people as soon as he assumes office; anti-trans legislation is at an all-time high; climate change continues to progress rapidly; COVID continues to disable people en masse while public health institutions look the other way.

Still, movement journalists and other reporters I spoke with for The Objective who have worked under the previous Trump administration say it’s possible to do better journalism that counteracts the reporting that contributed to this moment.

They urge the importance of community over defeatism, investing in coverage that fosters imagination around different systems of power, and developing skills around digital and physical safety.

Trump succeeded this election cycle in part by telling the story of the way he thinks the world should be, said Cayden Mak. He’s the publisher of Convergence Magazine, a part of the Movement Media Alliance.

But, Mak said, that also offers media workers a different role to play.

“We can provide comfort and clarity to people in many moments to come when there's going to be a lot of chaos, of pain,” he said. “There’s work that we can do as media workers to offer an alternative positive vision of how the world could work and what could be.”

Read the full story on The Objective.

—James Salanga

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An estimated one hundred workers crossed the picket line to put up the Times election needle during the eight-day strike, while calls to boycott the paper due to its coverage of Palestine continue. Read more.

Behind Laura Helmuth’s resignation at Scientific American: Former editor-in-chief Helmuth resigned last week shortly after a series of posts on Bluesky in which she called Trump voters "fucking fascists." For Defector, science writer Sabrina Imbler looks back at the magazine’s coverage under Helmuth’s leadership, including its rigorous reporting on trans healthcare that didn’t equivocate on questions like “should kids be able to transition.”

🔬 Read the story in Defector.

Layoffs impact Hearst Magazines, one of many publishers partnering with ChatGPT: The exact size and departments impacted by the layoffs weren’t immediately disclosed. Hearst Magazines houses over 25 U.S. brands including Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire, and says it is “reallocating resources amid changes in the industry.” Those changes may include the rise of partnerships with generative AI company OpenAI and its product ChatGPT — like the one Hearst is part of.

📚 Read the story in the Hollywood Reporter.

NPR and its member stations revamp radio coverage in the face of declining audiences: Writer, editor, and audio producer Gabe Dullard chronicles the history of NPR and its member stations in recent years, including unionization, a push to expand digital presences, and layoffs. The latest year-ahead memo from the “mothership” to its local affiliates directs them toward securing listeners between the ages of 40 and 64 with “personal relevance” stories centered on “joy and wonder, space and science, personal finance, health and wellness.”

📻 Read the story in Nieman Reports.

Turmoil at the Washington Post continues: Senior politics editor Dan Eggen is being ousted from his job at year’s end. The newsroom is grappling with guild and worker pushback on a hastily-announced, stringent five-days-a-week return-to-office policy. And the paper is set to take another financial blow: Even before 250,000 digital subscribers deserted the paper when its editorial board didn’t endorse a presidential candidate, the paper was projected to lose at least $77 million this year.

🗞️ Read the story in NY Mag.

This week’s resource is the “Don’t Be a Copagandist” tip sheet.

With efforts to censor the press looming and growing, it’s more important than ever for journalists to avoid being stenographers for police while accurately and carefully reporting on the violence and “crime” faced by marginalized communities.

This tip sheet offers insights into how to do just that, including things to avoid, approaches for advancing abolitionist narratives, and additional reading and guides.

For more style guides, journalism job boards, and tip sheets, check out The Objective’s resource list.

Thanks for reading. We appreciate you being here, and we’ll have more for you soon.

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