Media insiders who spoke with The Bulwark are warning that their institutions are not ready to cover what they say will likely be a "catastrophe" of President-elect Donald Trump's second term.
In particular, the sources worried about how their institutions would cover Trump's plans for mass deportations, which they predicted would rip entire communities apart.
One source described as a "veteran NBC News journalist" said that their network's usual coverage of immigration issues left them little confidence of delivering an accurate portrayal of what was likely to happen in a second Trump term.
“When we keep showing the border, we show that we don’t get it,” the source said. “Stop showing just the border—show churches, show schools, show hospitals.”
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Univision's Enrique Acevedo went on the record to back up the NBC journalist's assessment of the media's coverage of immigration issues.
"We’ve done a poor job of covering immigration, historically,” he told the Bulwark. “Most news platforms in the U.S. have focused on what happens at the border and done very little to understand the complexities of immigration coverage. Covering the border to explain our immigration crisis is like covering an ER to explain the COVID pandemic."
Acevedo also added darkly that "the humanitarian catastrophe that deportations will undoubtedly lead to is a story we’re not prepared to cover."
Kica Matos, the head of the National Immigration Law Center, predicted that public opinion on immigration issues could change very quickly once Trump's deportation plans kick into high gear, although she also feared that the American media was not up to the task.
“I don’t think Americans understand what’s coming,” she told The Bulwark. “I would bet a majority of Americans would be shocked when some of their friends are deported. Or the parents of the best friend of their child. I want those stories told, too.”
