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Josh Voorhees on the Challenge of Covering Trump

Gage Skidmore
/
Flickr

This election has been unusual for a number of reasons, many which can be boiled down to one personality that's dominated the airwaves and headlines: Donald Trump. Josh Voorhees, senior writer for the liberal online magazine Slate, says part of it was the confluence of Trump's ascendancy and a new form of journalism.

"In any given day, we may have six or seven news cycles now. It's so short, everyone reacts quicker. You end up with this breathlessness that often kind of pervades the internet. And Donald Trump is both part and parcel of that," he says. "So it's been a challenge to figure out what it worth covering and what is not, and to strike some type of balance."

Voorhees, who lives in Iowa City, says Trump's style of speaking means that it's hard for the news media to ignore him.

"He manages to make news, if you want to use that term, on an hourly basis. It's what allowed him to rise so quickly in the primary."

In this River to River interview, host Ben Kieffer talks with Voorhees about his analysis and coverage

Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River