WSJ’s Baker defends its coverage of Trump

Gerard Baker

Wall Street Journal editor Gerard Baker defended the paper’s coverage in a town hall meeting with the staff on Monday, telling staffers that if they disagreed that they should seek work elsewhere, reports Michael Calderone of The Huffington Post.

Calderone writes, “‘Don’t let anybody get away with saying our reporting of Donald Trump has been soft,’ Baker told attendees.

“Journal staffers have sought an audience with Baker amid internal concerns the paper hasn’t been as aggressive in covering Trump as competitors or as direct in calling out falsehoods, such as the president’s bogus claim about widespread voter fraud. Baker recently came under scrutiny after urging editors to avoid using the term ‘majority-Muslim’ to describe the countries affected by Trump’s travel ban.

“During the Monday meeting, Baker argued that the Journal’s role is not to be ‘oppositional,’ as some news organizations appear to be, but to provide objective coverage. He suggested staffers unhappy with the Journal’s coverage should go elsewhere.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.