Linda Greenhouse, "Just a Journalist"

When Greenhouse participated in a march for reproductive rights in 1989, she was startled that some saw this as compromising her obligation to report objectively, even though she’d been taking part as a private citizen and hadn’t written about the event. This is one instance of the “accidental activism” Greenhouse uses to frame her exploration of the practice of journalism today. Based on the 2015 Massey Lectures, the book moves from historical standards of “fair” and “unbiased” as synonyms for “true,” to new demands for truth-telling in the Trump era, when journalists don’t just quote statements, but are expected to call questionable assertions lies. Greenhouse, the Joseph Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School and a contributing op-ed writer for The New York Times, won the Pulitzer during her nearly thirty years covering the Supreme Court.

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Produced by Tom Warren