Renowned journalist, anchor, and former White House Correspondent Jim Acosta joined the students of COMM-420: Covering the White House in an Election Year, taught by Professor Antoine Sanfuentes, to speak about his first-hand experience and perspective gained from covering the White House during both the Obama and Trump administrations. He is known for his sharp reporting style and strong defense of truth, and I was grateful for the opportunity to hear from him in person.  

Acosta opened up about his time in the White House, where he covered a turbulent period in American politics that saw unprecedented Presidential behaviour, including tireless attacks on the press, and even attacks on Acosta’s own freedom as a reporter. He then dove into the evolving landscape of journalism, mainly speaking about the era of heightened political scrutiny that revolved around the Trump presidency. 

With fascinating anecdotes peppered throughout the conversation, he provided remarkable glimpses behind intense scenes of the Trump White House. He recounted how the Trump administration worked strategically to undermine the credibility of the reporters and press. Trump and his team knocked reputable news outlets as messengers of “fake news” and would actively call journalists and their profession the “enemy of the people.” This deliberate strategy eroded public trust in the media and, many believe, endangered the very foundations of democracy. 

Acosta described some of the many obstacles journalists faced as they navigated the responsibilities and consequences of reporting on the country’s highest office. He emphasized throughout the talk, the cruciality of not only upholding First Amendment principles but also using the freedom of speech and the press to keep those in power accountable. In an era where truth seemed to be under siege, one pivotal moment in Acosta’s career came when the White House suspended his security credentials following an unusually contentious press conference. With the support of CNN, Acosta took legal steps to challenge this decision.  

“As I wrote about in the book, one of the reasons I was able to keep my Press Pass is they did not really have a process for taking it away; they just took it away. And so, one of the things we were arguing in court is that you have a right to due process. You know you hear that from time to time. There was no due process, so it was a victory for the First Amendment and the Fifth amendment of the Constitution. Which says you have a right to due process,” Acosta told us. His book, The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America (2019), shares in-depth the controversy of the Press Pass and the lawsuit to reclaim it.

Professor Sanfuentes guided the conversation, sharing insights from his own experience in the field also as a former White House Correspondent. “Looking back on it, the idea that a White House could pull a reporter's Press Pass over the fact that they don’t like the nature of the question or the manner in which the question was asked. Or even the interaction from the reporter which you see it here...[it was] contentious but expected.” said Sanfuentes. 

Acosta’s experience left a powerful message on the importance of integrity and democratic accountability: 

“When you turn the truth upside down to that kind of an extreme, everybody is sort of caught in the mazes and the cornfield; you know it’s difficult to deal with the truth and try to get it out there... But to what Antoine was saying earlier, the press was really thrust into this situation, and you had people from all walks of life in the press, you know people with very little experience, people with lots of experience, who were struggling with this.” 

Reflecting on the experience, hearing directly from journalists like Acosta who don’t waver in pursuing the truth is terrific. He shows us that through the confusion of clouded judgment and misinformation, truth is a beacon and will always come to light.