Press Watch: WashPost acknowledges a media failure, goes after Trump’s business secrets – By Dan Froomkin (Salon) / Jan 15 2020
Three of the Post’s best reporters urge readers to hold them accountable in finding what the president is hiding
(This article was co-produced with Press Watch, a new website that monitors and critiques American political coverage. Please consider supporting Press Watch by making a donation.)
Most political reporters don’t like to talk about what they’ve failed to do.
But three Washington Post reporters assigned to cover Donald Trump’s business interests acknowledged Tuesday that his business remains “a blind spot at the heart of his presidency.”
And they vowed to try to fix that.
In an article published on the Post website Tuesday morning, David A. Fahrenthold, Joshua Partlow and Jonathan O’Connell published a list of five unanswered questions they intend to explore in the coming months, with the ultimate goal of determining whether Trump is “exposed to problems — such as struggling properties or debts coming due — that would put private pressure on a man with immense public power.”
The questions, each of which they discuss briefly:
- How will the company adapt now that it has let go of many undocumented immigrant workers?
- How is Trump’s business doing financially?
- Will selling be a new strategy?
- How is Trump changing his tactics when it comes to promoting or distancing himself from his business?
- Who will try to influence the Trump administration by patronizing Trump’s businesses?
Each of these questions build on previous reporting — for instance, the Post determined last year that Trump’s business was partly built with the labor of undocumented immigrants, and that some of his Washington hotel’s “most valued customers also wanted something from the Trump administration.”
Continue to article: https://www.salon.com/2020/01/15/press-watch/
