POV POV The Truth Matters, Now More Than Ever by Susanne Craig

Our alumni are doing big things all over the world, and Susanne Craig, BA'91, is a great example. If her face looks familiar, it's because last fall she broke a bombshell story about 's tax returns and, overnight, became an unwilling American TV celebrity. What you may not know is that Craig is a UCalgary political science alumna who, long before she began working at , got her start at the Gauntlet. We like to support open dialogue from a diverse range of opinions and perspectives, and in that spirit here is her story . . .

n early 2016, I found myself with craft. Last April, I discovered the registra- media is a real threat to a free press. I am a job few people would have pre- tion on Mr. Trump’s Cessna had expired. I a believer in the adage that democracy dicted had a long shelf life: Covering called the Federal Aviation Administration, is the worst form of government, except Donald Trump’s bid for the White and that agency grounded the aircraft. I maybe for all others. The media is about House at the New York Times. wrote about the Trump Organization. In as perfect as democracy, but a democracy Illustration by Kelly Sutherland I was sitting at my desk in the paper’s the spring of 2016, the Times hired a title cannot thrive, or even really work, without City Hall bureau in late January when the search firm to examine all of Mr. Trump’s a strong fourth estate. phone call that changed the course of my properties. A three-month-long project re- Mr. Trump banned certain news organ- game — at least in the short term. If he can discerning, fake news and false stories — nounced that an additional US$5 million career arrived. “I’ve got a great assignment vealed significant business entanglements izations from his rallies, including the make people believe the media is un- parading as real news — have exploded. had been earmarked to cover the Trump for you,” declared Wendell Jamieson, my beyond what Mr. Trump had disclosed pub- Washington Post, during this presidential trustworthy, they may be more likely to Mr. Trump has even used this phenomen- administration. “Covering this story aggres- boss and the paper’s Metro editor. “It licly as part of his bid for the White House, bid. He has threatened to sue reporters turn to him for information. Then, when on to further undermine public confidence sively, fairly and unrelentingly will be the should only take a few weeks.” including almost US$2 billion in partner- and their employers — including mine — credible, but critical stories about him in the media. top priority for the New York Times news- Let’s just say it didn’t quite work out the ship debt to financial institutions such as for stories I have written. He has made are published, he has already sown those “You are fake news,” Mr. Trump said room this year,” Times executive editor way he predicted. the Bank of China and Goldman Sachs. blatantly false statements about news or- important seeds of doubt: Don't believe at a news conference in January 2017, Dean Baquet and Joe Kahn, managing A bit of background: I spent years cov- Then, one Friday afternoon, I went to ganizations, including a recent claim that what you read, folks. The media is out to berating CNN reporter Jim Acosta, whose editor, wrote in a recent note to employees. ering finance, first at the Globe and Mail, my mailbox at the Times and found three the Times’ subscribers and readership get Donald Trump. At least, according to employer had reported not fake news but, In an article titled “Trump Is Making then the Journal, followed by pages of Mr. Trump’s 1995 tax returns, the are falling (they are not). At rallies and Donald Trump. rather, had accurately reported about the Journalism Great Again,” Politico called the Times, and it was this experience that journalism equivalent of a winning lottery on Twitter, he has singled out individual The news industry was ripe for Mr. existence of an unsubstantiated research Donald Trump the best thing to happen made me an ideal candidate for the story ticket. Over the next week, my colleagues reporters, making them targets for public Trump’s war on words. Newsrooms con- dossier that included unflattering informa- to our industry since the invention of the Mr. Jamieson had in mind. He wanted a and I worked ’round the clock to decipher abuse. He has called solid, but negative tinue to struggle as print circulation tion about Mr. Trump. expense account. These days, Washington colleague and me to take a close look at what we had, and to confirm the authenti- reporting “fake news.” In late January and advertising dollars fall, while digital The somewhat unexpected silver lining in is overflowing with stories. The conflicts Mr. Trump in New York City, and drill city of the documents. We ultimately did, 2017, Stephen K. Bannon, a senior advisor revenue is not backfilling the hole. The all this is the “Trump bump;” the president that flow from Mr. Trump’s decision not to down into what local real estate he owns, and, through those three pages, we were to Mr. Trump, repeatedly referred to the Herald, where I got my start in and his attacks on the media have provid- sell his assets alone have been a full-em- and what doesn’t he own. In Manhattan, able to show that Mr. Trump likely had not media as “the opposition party” in an daily journalism, has all but merged with ed amazing advertising for the value of ployment act for an army of reporters, this was a particular riddle because paid income tax in decades, something he interview with my colleague, Michael the Calgary Sun. This means fewer people original, shoe-leather reporting. Online myself included. Mr. Trump’s name, through marketing confirmed in the wake of our story during Grynbaum. are covering the mayor, the premier and newspaper subscriptions are on the rise. In attacking the media, Donald Trump agreements, is on a lot of buildings he a presidential debate. Last year, toward the end of a particu- everyone in-between. No one wins, except The New York Times added 276,000 net is playing to his audience. In doing so, doesn’t actually own. When the call from Throughout 2016, I would joke that larly testy series of phone conversations I maybe politicians who are happy to have new digital subscribers in the fourth quarter he has clarified for reporters who their Mr. Jamieson landed, Mr. Trump was one Donald Trump was the greatest thing to had with Mr. Trump about a story he was fewer eyes looking at them. of 2016, the best single quarter since 2011 audience is — readers who expect repor- of several candidates in a crowded field happen to journalism in years. He made not happy I was writing, he made light of These days, many people don’t even when the Times launched its online pay ters to be a watchdog to those in power. looking to clinch the Republican nomin- for great copy, and readers couldn’t seem his media-bashing. “You will write bad, know where their news is coming from. model, and more net new subscriptions We shouldn’t play his game. We shouldn’t ation. The first primary, in Iowa, was just to get enough. It’s just too bad it’s not that and I will tweet badly about the Times: The Internet has redefined what the word than in all of 2013 and 2014, combined. play anyone’s game. Our best response is weeks away. simple. Mr. Trump is good for journalism that they are inaccurate and don’t know “media” means, and it’s often applied eq- News organizations across the country to do our jobs, and report without fear or I never did return to City Hall. Donald in that perverse way that war is good for what they are doing,” he told me. “And that Comments conversations. entertaining and insightful intelligent, foster to is goals magazine’s our of : One ually to reporters at publications like the have committed additional resources to favour. And we need to be fair and bal- Trump kept winning and I kept reporting the economy. The very public and dan- is what we do. We play the game.” New York Times and anonymous blog- covering Mr. Trump, his administration anced, even if the subject we are covering

on him. I wrote about his aging fleet of air- gerous campaign he is waging against the For Mr. Trump, it’s a potentially smart Disclaimer the contributors. of only but UCalgary, of the opinion necessarily not are this page on appear may that images and gers. And, as consumers have become less and his family. In January, the Times an- is sometimes neither. U

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