The federal attack on the press will trickle down locally

I’m a local reporter in New York City bracing for a second Trump administration in 2025, and what that means both for journalism and the most vulnerable New Yorkers we write about.

I fear the federal attack on the press will trickle down locally, and it will be harder to get information through normal channels and freedom of information requests. This could make it more difficult for reporters to fact check and push for information that’s crucial to our readers. Freedom of Information requests will continue to be delayed.

I’ve already seen some of this covering Mayor Eric Adams, who often obfuscates and deflects when asked basic questions. For more than a year, he’s restricted his “off-topic” questioning to once a week. After his federal indictment in the fall, and since Trump’s victory, Adams appears emboldened by a president who shares his belief that his federal corruption charges are payback for criticism of the asylum seekers coming to New York City.

In spite of the mayor and his team’s combativeness, The City and other local journalists have to report back to the public — on the mayor’s legal challenges, but also new trash can regulations, on how to join a community board or precinct community council, and what to do if your apartment is too hot.

Journalists will continue to need to be more thoughtful and report news not like a season of “Survivor: City Hall” but on the larger issues with longer-term effects. In response to obfuscation, we’ll have to work even harder to both develop more sources inside government and spend more time outside in the communities we cover. It’s easy to say “focus on the issues that matter,” but that can be difficult; what matters to some voters doesn’t matter to others, and on and on. There needs to be a constant dialogue with the public.

I also fear news fatigue. People want to tune out of what’s happening for their own mental health, even locally. That won’t help existing financial challenges for newsrooms like mine, which rely on support from both large foundations and readers.

Despite the many challenges, The City aims to show people that we’re finding valuable information, even when their public officials don’t want us to. That’s what my colleagues and I will be focused on in 2025.