It’s upsetting to have to advocate for respect in the workplace. It’s even more upsetting that the main offender is the president of the United States.
The most recent instance of the president directly attacking women in the media happened at the White House on Monday: “You are the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place,” the president said, berating ABC’s Rachel Scott, after she asked about video of the Sept. 2 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. “Let me just tell you, you are an obnoxious, a terrible ― actually a terrible reporter, and it’s always the same thing with you.”
These public humiliations are outrageous.
Last week, the president diminished CNN’s Kaitlan Collins as “always Stupid and Nasty” in a social media post. Some of his other recent lows:
- Pointing at Bloomberg News’s Catherine Lucey and barking, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.”
- Replying “Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?” when Nancy Cordes of CBS asked about administration vetting of the National Guard shooting suspect.
- Calling Katie Rogers of The New York Times “a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.”
Remaining silent does a disservice to the women in the media who have come before me, those who stand alongside me and those who want to join the field in the future.
I might still be new to the industry, but I know female reporters deserve better.
It was not lost on me last month, seeing the attack on Rogers after a Times article about the president aging, that the president’s social media post did not scold or even mention the article’s male co-author.
Going after a female reporter’s looks and intelligence reminds me of things I learned in a media history class at Northwestern University: how women were excluded from newsrooms because people did not believe they had the intellectual capacity to be reporters, and how women used to be told to report on lifestyle and culture instead of “hard news” topics such as the economy. They were paid less, harassed more and were essentially told, “this isn’t for you.”
But journalism is for us.
These public humiliations are outrageous. And it’s frustrating to have spent four years studying how to ethically and accurately report only to see past injustices repeated and for the president to disrespect my chosen profession time and again.
But my larger concern is how this rhetoric could turn into action. In this administration, reporters have been turned away from the White House and Pentagon briefing rooms. What’s to stop the president from going even further?
I’m also worried about how the president’s rhetoric raises risks for me in my own work. For my job on the MS NOW social team, I spend a lot of time approaching people on the street for reactions to news stories. In October, for example, I interviewed several Chicagoans about how they felt about the National Guard deployments in their city. The president’s aggressive behavior gives a green light for people to bash me for simply asking questions.
Asking difficult questions is crucial to journalism. Answering them is a responsibility of holding public office. Asking difficult questions is crucial to journalism. Answering them is a responsibility of holding public office. I shouldn’t have to spell this out but: No one should be berated for doing their jobs competently. I’m standing up for my peers because I’m grateful for the previous generations that made my career path possible; for the journalism professors who encouraged me to speak the truth, boldly; and for female coworkers, producers and managers whose professionalism has mentored me directly and indirectly. While the number of women going into journalism has increased, a 2024 study from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that the share of women in leadership positions in the field is still low. I worry that aspiring young journalists might feel reporting is not for them because of how the president treats women in the industry. I also worry that reporters might refrain from asking tough questions to avoid direct attacks from the commander-in-chief. In 2015, when the president, then a candidate, made disparaging comments about Megyn Kelly after a Republican primary debate, the criticism that followed was widespread. More recently, some fellow reporters have denounced this disrespect of their colleagues and asked about the president’s behavior. Appallingly, the White House press secretary suggested everyone “should appreciate the frankness and the openness.” Bullying wasn’t okay in a schoolyard, and it’s not okay coming from the Oval Office.
Ari Bernick
Ari Bernick is a production assistant on the MS NOW social team. She studied history and journalism at Northwestern University. 
