Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.
The cameras are once again trained on Donald Trump.
The disgraced former president will be the subject of another cascade of historic headlines Tuesday as he is arraigned in Florida on 37 federal counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified information after he left office.
The high-stakes indictment puts news organizations, and the nation as a whole, in uncharted territory. News outlets have been preparing in haste for this moment since last week, when the charges were formally unveiled against Trump. Anchors, correspondents, reporters, and photographers from every major national — and international — outlet have descended on Florida to cover the historic proceeding.
Television news outlets were already in special coverage on Monday, offering live rolling images as Trump made his way from New Jersey to Florida, complete with overhead helicopter shots showing his motorcade navigating to the airport and his plane touching down in Miami.
CNN offered special programming throughout the day. Led by its top anchors and featuring insights from its most prominent analysts, the network previewed the unprecedented events that are set to unfold over the next 24 hours in the Sunshine State. Other outlets set the stage in their own ways.
The extraordinary deployment resembled preparations ahead of a major hurricane bearing down on millions in South Florida. Only this time, outlets were making preparations for a political storm.
While highly choreographed, the indictment will present some challenging unknowns to newsrooms. Authorities in Miami are currently preparing for protests around the federal courthouse and such demonstrations could add another potential layer to the coverage.
But, most notably, newsrooms will have to determine how to cover Trump when he takes the podium and likely unleashes a monsoon of lies, distortions, and brutish attacks against his perceived political enemies.
In a repeat of his strategy following his New York arraignment earlier this year, Trump is expected to deliver remarks after his appearance in court. The former president, and leading Republican presidential candidate, is slated to speak from his Bedminster golf club shortly after 8pm and hold a fundraiser.
The move — once again — puts newsrooms in a not unfamiliar position: to take Trump live or not?
More broadly speaking, the whole affair will certainly raise evergreen and thorny new questions about best practices in covering the now twice-indicted president. Nearly eight years since Trump crashed onto the political scene, there remains no agreed upon playbook, which will surely be evident in coverage decisions on display in the next 24 hours.
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