The executive editors of the New York Times and the Washington Post admitted that the publications “have to do better” when it comes to covering and understanding supporters of President Trump.
Joining Sunday’s Meet the Press on NBC, New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet and Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron agreed that the papers should “respect” and not be “dismissive” of Trump supporters.
“I don’t want to be dismissive of people who support the president. I think they’re owed our respect, and they certainly have mine,” Baron said. “They feel that the so-called elites in Washington have not paid attention to them, that they don’t understand their lives … They feel that the president is actually listening to them and addressing their concerns, and so they tend to believe him.”
“We have to do a better job understanding why some people support Donald Trump,” Baquet added. “I agree with Marty; we can’t dismiss everybody that supports Donald Trump. I think we have to get out in America much more than we do and talk to people.”
He continued, “I think we cannot dismiss everybody who supported Donald Trump, and we just cannot dismiss them. First off, that’s not journalistically moral. It’s journalistically moral to reach out, understand the world, and to be read — that’s our job.”
Trump has been critical of both outlets and their coverage of him during the course of his presidency so far. Earlier this year, he canceled the White House’s subscriptions to the New York Times and the Washington Post and has railed against reporters at both papers, something Baquet has said puts his reporters’ “lives at risk.”
Earlier this month, the New York Times endorsed Trump’s impeachment.
