When special counsel Robert Mueller’s report is released in a matter of hours, among its many other implications, it’s going to put the media’s reputation on the line.
There is a lot riding on the release of the report. First and foremost, it will reveal what Mueller found about Russian election interference, evidence of collusion by the Trump campaign, and efforts by President Trump to obstruct justice. Even if his actions didn’t meet the legal threshold needed to take the extraordinary step of indicting a sitting president, there’s the question of whether Democrats believe that there’s enough evidence in the report to pursue impeachment.
Additionally, Attorney General William Barr will be facing scrutiny for his handling of the rollout of the report, especially if its contents diverge from his four-page memo summarizing its conclusions, or if there are significant redactions for which there’s no reasonable justification.
But the media will also be in the spotlight. For over two years now, the media have been pushing the collusion story. They have relied on leaks and anonymous quotes and outside experts to report on what Mueller may have on Trump, and they’ve speculated after the release of various Mueller indictments about how they provided hidden clues signaling in which direction Mueller was ultimately heading.
Once the report comes out, after the initial blast of news, media critics will be able to go back and look at the nearly two years of coverage about the Mueller investigation and determine whether stories based on anonymous sources were accurate. If not, it will be another major blow to the media’s credibility, and a boost to Trump’s efforts to dismiss every negative story about him as “fake news.”
[WATCH: William Barr’s press conference on Mueller report release]
