American Crisis Margaret Sullivan

I think this short episode is so important that I’m making it available to everyone, not just paid subscribers, as usual. Please have a listen.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit margaretsullivan.substack.com/subscribe

As I wrap up Season One of “American Crisis: Can Journalism Save Democracy?” I’m especially delighted to offer all subscribers this conversation with Garrett Graff, the brilliant author of “Watergate: A New History.”
He really is the perfect person to cap off all we’ve been talking about because he’s a serious student of both the Watergate scandal and the events that preceded and followed Jan. 6, 2021. I was particularly struck by his observation that — while we know how Watergate ended — we don’t know, right now, if we’re at the beginning, middle or end of the Trump era.
Graff’s observations, knowledge and ability to synthesize opened my eyes and changed my mind about some aspects of this subject. I hope you’ll appreciate it as much as I did.
Please note: This newsletter will continue — only the audio portions are taking a break, with the possibility of a Season Two podcast that will be more focused on the looming presidential election. You’ll continue to receive my media-criticism posts, as well as some broader reporting and commentary. I’ll continue to look for, and respond to, your comments below each post.
A short bonus episode with Garrett Graff will drop on Friday. I’m making them both free to all.
As for the question we’ve been exploring — can journalism save democracy? — my answer at this point is “not all by itself.” In other words, journalism is necessary to sustaining democracy but not sufficient, as Graff explains so eloquently here.
Thanks for coming along for this ride, and please don’t go away. There’s much more to come!


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit margaretsullivan.substack.com/subscribe

Of all the people I’ve interviewed for American Crisis — Carl Bernstein, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Molly Jong-Fast and others — Steve Inskeep is probably the least alarmed about this moment in American history. He’s far less alarmed than I am, in fact.
He brings to bear on this question his many years as a journalist, including covering the Pentagon, George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, and the U.S. Senate. He’s been the host of Weekend All Things Considered and Morning Edition. A student of American history and a native of Indiana, he has written four books, the most recent of which will be published in about two weeks — “Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America.”
As you’ll hear on Episode 9, the longtime Morning Edition host takes the long view, informed not only by his own reporting but by his deep interest in the Civil War era. He’s also a believer in trying to understand the points of view of those with whom we disagree; we may not come to a meeting of the minds, he realizes, but at least we’ll truly get what others are trying to say.
Let me know in the comments below whether you think Inskeep is on target, and whether we in 2023 have something to learn from Lincoln’s wily approach to dealing with his critics and adversaries.
American Crisis is a community-supported project where I explore how journalism can help save democracy. I’ll be donating any net proceeds to two wonderful journalism organizations for the first month, so please consider joining us.

Speaking of Lincoln, I want to let you know that I’ll be doing a live conversation with fellow Substacker Steve Schmidt, the corporate and political strategist who co-founded the anti-Trump super-PAC known as the Lincoln Project. We’ll no doubt be discussing media coverage of the presidential campaign and a bunch of other things. You can register for the event (which is available only to paid subscribers to Steve’s The Warning newsletter) here:
Next up on my American Crisis podcast — free to all my subscribers — is historian Garrett Graff, who wrote the excellent book, published last year, “Watergate: A New History.” I’m a big fan of Garrett’s commentary and an admirer of his knowledge, so I’m really looking forward to this one. Please look for it in two weeks.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit margaretsullivan.substack.com/subscribe

If you’re anything like me, you’re somewhere between disappointed and enraged at the state of the American news media today.  The right-wing media spreads lies (and gets caught doing it, as in the whopping settlement that Fox News had to pay to a voting systems company). Meanwhile, the mainstream media fails us as it prioritizes demands for corporate profit over the public’s best interests, and constantly engages in performative neutrality so as not to offend anyone.
But what can be done? Is government regulation an option, given the importance of free speech and press rights? Today’s podcast is with an expert in media regulation — Philip M. Napoli, a distinguished professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy who also directs Duke’s DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy.
I’m happy to report that Phil and I are team-teaching a course at Duke this fall — starting next week! — called “Can Journalism Save Democracy?” That, of course, also happens to be the overall focus of my American Crisis podcast here on Substack. As we await the first meeting on Tuesday with 26 undergraduates (many of whom are public-policy, rather than journalism, students), Phil and I had a chance to chat about a number of issues plaguing journalism today.
I hope you’ll enjoy listening to our conversation, which touches on the now defunct Fairness Doctrine, how to deal with lies and disinformation, and whether there is any hope of restraining the harm done by Fox News.
Thanks so much for subscribing to American Crisis, which now has well over 5,000 subscribers. If you would like to help support my pro-democracy journalism and become part of the media-watchdog community I’m building here, you can become a paid subscriber at margaretsullivan.substack.com; the cost is $8 a month or $50 for the year. This will give you full access to all my media-criticism posts, to discussion threads and to the podcast, including all bonus episodes. Please let me know your thoughts about these subjects in the comments.
If you’d like to dig deeper into Phil Napoli’s excellent work, here are some examples:
Misinformation fueled the Jan. 6 riots. A Biden Commission could chart a path forward. (The Hill, with Bill Adair)
Lessons for Social Media from the Fairness Doctrine. (Columbia Journalism Review)
His 2019 book, Social Media and the Public Interest: Media Regulation in the Disinformation Age


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit margaretsullivan.substack.com/subscribe

In the past few weeks alone, student journalists have been on a remarkable roll.
Impressive reporting at The Stanford Daily led to the resignation of the university’s president. And, after an investigation into hazing rituals by The Daily Northwestern, that university fired fired its football coach because of his players’ alleged involvement.
“More than anything, to me, this should raise conversations about the value of student journalism,” Theo Baker, the investigations editor of the Stanford paper, told the New York Times. And there are many other instances over the years in which student journalists have held powerful people and institutions accountable.
That’s heartening, because it suggests that — despite the challenges of being a young journalist today — there’s a high level of talent and commitment among the practitioners who’ll soon be professional reporters.
At perhaps the nation’s premier training ground, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Dean Jelani Cobb is immersed in the future of journalism
And as a student of history, and an esteemed writer for the New Yorker magazine, he’s acutely aware of the need for young journalists to enter an uncertain field armed with the best possible skills and values.
I loved our conversation about how journalism has changed over the decades and how young journalists can anticipate — and be prepared — for what’s ahead. Let’s hope they are all of the caliber of those at Stanford and Northwestern who are already showing they know how to be effective watchdogs.
This post is free to all American Crisis subscribers, and I’m delighted to say that, after only a few weeks, there are now more than 5,000 of you! I am dedicated to doing pro-democracy work here. If you would like to help support it, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription for $50 a year. That will give you access to bonus podcast episodes and all of the media criticism I do here.
Thanks for all your kind words, thoughtful comments and support.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit margaretsullivan.substack.com/subscribe

If we hadn’t all been worn down by the relentless turmoil of Donald Trump’s rise to political power, the events of recent weeks would be even harder to believe.
Even though we are somewhat jaded, the barrage of criminal indictments and ominous investigations still have the power to stun. But they haven’t stopped Trump’s drive to win the presidency again next year. If he prevails (and it’s very far from impossible), he has already been clear about what he wants to do: Change the rules so that American democracy looks much more like an authoritarian state.
American Crisis is a community-supported project where I explore how journalism can help save democracy. Please consider joining us!

The stakes of this moment are high. So my conversation with prominent constitutional lawyer and law professor Neal Katyal is a timely one. In addition to his impressive professional accomplishments, Neal is also a new Substack podcaster. As the host of Courtside, he takes up a different Supreme Court case each episode in conversation with celebrity guests including John Legend, Rob Reiner and Katie Couric.
In our conversation, I particularly appreciated how Neal puts today’s events in the context of Watergate — another hinge moment in American history. Like Trump, Nixon seemed to believe (and later declared) that the president is above the law.
Neal’s optimism, expressed at the end of the podcast, is inspiring. And his view of journalism’s role is on point. I hope you’ll enjoy the conversation and learn as much as I did.
I’m very grateful to the thousands of new subscribers to American Crisis. Particular thanks to those who have decided to support my work with a paid subscription, and in some cases, have sent me messages of appreciation. With the assault on truth, combined with the economic tumult of the media industry, this can be a discouraging time to be a journalist. So your kind words — along with your interest and attention here — mean the world to me.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit margaretsullivan.substack.com/subscribe