A lot has been said in the fortnight following the election of Donald Trump, as journalists and readers search for some certainty and reassurance at a time when there seem few definite answers.
So much noise makes it difficult to draw any conclusions: which means morning conference at the Guardian remains an important space for rational discussion. Every day, at 10am, journalists and staff from across the company gather. The editor-in-chief reflects on what we published yesterday, and section editors lay out the direction of our coverage for the next 24 hours in news, opinion, sport, culture, video, community, visuals and beyond.
Most people turn up to listen to or participate in the conversation that takes place when the questions of the day are opened to the floor. After Trump’s election, conference has been very busy.
The morning of his victory, conference had to be moved to the biggest room in the Guardian’s offices to accommodate the staff – from all departments – who wanted to attend. In my time at the Guardian as a video journalist, the only other time conference has been moved like this was following the Brexit referendum result.
Both times, it was standing room only – and in the wake of Trump’s election, we were also joined via Skype by colleagues in New York, yet to go to bed, including Guardian US editor Lee Glendinning, who talked us through the result as they had witnessed it.
It has continued to dominate discussion. The following Monday, conversation focused on the fundamentals of news and reporting in the digital age. Fake news is a real cause for concern on social media, particularly on Facebook, where unverified information and outright lies can swallow up facts and truth. That’s a frightening concept when 62% of American adults access news through social media.
Questions were raised about whether the Guardian should or even could be doing more to debunk myths circling online and call out fake news. Could the Guardian dedicate resources to tackle this kind of story on a daily basis, wondered one journalist. Another thought that this would be a never-ending battle, and our focus should remain on reporting news in the most transparent, truthful way on our own platform.
Since the election, a wide range of news organisations including the Guardian have seen an increase in members, subscriptions and donations, suggesting there is still strong demand for balanced analysis from trusted publications.
Although morning conference is open to all, some contributions hold a special weight. When Gary Younge returned from the US, where he had been reporting on the election from Indiana, many were eager to hear what he had to say.
I was particularly struck by his observations about how black communities and white communities organised themselves. He noted that while black churches had remained a strong focal point around which people collected and found spaces and support, white communities were now less likely to engage in the same way with the institutions, such as unions or political parties, around which they had traditionally gathered.
Gary elaborated on the key issues – such as falling living standards, growing frustrations at globalisation and the decline of skilled union jobs in the region – raised in his Long Read article, published the same day. While answering questions, he also cautioned those trying to predict the direction of the winds in the coming months – from the French presidential election to the shape of the Trump administration. It would be unwise to claim to have any of the answers, as this presidential election, and to a larger extent many of the biggest stories of 2016, have shown.
This week, I was in the Guardian offices in New York for morning conference. I could sense a feeling of tension and exhaustion similar to that which I’ve noticed listening to American friends describing the election over lunch, or overhearing conversations on the bus through Queens. Morning conference in New York is different from our meeting in the UK. With a smaller staff in the US, it is more intimate and conversational, which meant it could look quite deeply at which policies Trump might enforce and which he might let go. Getting that US perspective and hearing firsthand the views of Guardian journalists on the ground was really eye-opening.
Questions about the potential impact of a Trump administration on Nasa, science and global warming all require rigorous pursuit. There seemed to be so much that could have been discussed further, but the discussion is unlikely to fade away any time soon.
Trump’s election touches upon practically every key international story of the day, from Brexit and Syria to the far right and the immigration crisis. What will four years with Trump as president mean for these issues? It’s unsurprising that people are worried – it felt as though many Americans were waiting for Thanksgiving this week in order to pause and take a breath before Christmas goes hurtling by, bringing January and Trump’s inauguration with it.
But it is more important than ever to keep a critical eye on the details, to push through the misleading stories and report truthful, honest and trustworthy information. If there’s one thing I’ve taken from conference this fortnight, it’s that this is exactly what the Guardian intends to do.
