The White House Is Waging an Information War. The Press Must Fight Back.

Editors Note: This story originally appeared in Wednesday’s edition of The Evening Rundown.

Jeffrey Goldberg might as well have his face on a dartboard in The West Wing after dropping the full Signal group chat that’s now gripping media worldwide. There’s already plenty of reporting and analysis breaking down the severity of what Waltz and Hegseth did—but what matters most right now, from this publication’s perspective, is how the Fourth Estate is responding, particularly in light of the administration’s reaction.

Since January 20th, the Trump White House has been “flooding the zone,” moving at a breakneck pace designed to overwhelm reporters and blunt the public’s ability to process and respond. While the Washington press corps has finally caught up, their slow start was almost embarrassing. The administration has made a sport out of humiliating the press—banning The Associated Press from the White House press pool, kicking CNN, Politico, and others out of the Pentagon, and completely shuttering government-funded outlets like Voice of America.

Now, with the press finally catching the White House flat-footed, this should be the moment to strike. But are they? It’s hard to tell. The Atlantic, which took the bold step of publishing the entire text chain (minus the CIA contact), kept its universal paywall up for nearly all internal coverage. The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other legacy outlets did the same. So, seriously—what are we doing here? Paywalls are the fastest way to kill interest in a story, no one is going to solely subscribe purely to read one article. It is a false choice in which newsrooms are — once again — putting profit over information.

The White House is waging an information war—and the press needs to fight back. Every time the reporters in the Brady Briefing Room let Karoline Leavitt bulldoze them with lies unchecked, or lock critical analysis behind a paywall, they’re not just failing their duty—they’re willingly letting the nation slide deeper into authoritarianism.

The press is up against an administration that thrives on disinformation, weaponizing every platform at its disposal to mislead the public. To counter this, publications must use every tool they have—not just strong reporting, but strategic action. That means dropping paywalls on critical coverage so the truth isn’t locked behind a subscription fee while lies spread for free. It means cutting live feeds of White House events when they become blatant propaganda, refusing to be used as a megaphone for deception. It means walking out of press briefings when the administration turns them into bad-faith spectacles. Journalism isn’t just about documenting history—it’s about ensuring the public has the information they need to fight back. If the press fails to meet the moment, they’re not just losing readers—they’re losing the country.