Reporters will have to cultivate trust the old-school way

If the currency of good journalism is sustained access, the gold standard of that access is trust. And two years into this chaotic and manipulative news environment, in 2026, we will have to go back to fundamental journalistic practices to rebuild trust-based relationships, the kind that yield news stories that topple corruption, erode secrecy, protect the vulnerable, and strengthen democracy.

First, we’ll have to put aggregated data where it belongs, in the contours of a story, not at its center. Splashy numbers and outsized figures pale in comparison to the story of a person who lived the aftermath of tragedy, who faced their lowest moment with courage, and who made immeasurable sacrifices to care for others. Those are the types of stories that compel communities and a country to action.

The families, neighbors, and supporters of Black Americans killed at the hands of police whose stories first made headlines and then were reported with depth and care galvanized the Black Lives Matter Movement, and shook our country’s myth of a post-racial society. (R.I.P. Michael Brown. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Philando Castile. Freddie Gray. Trayvon Martin. Eric Garner. Tamir Rice.)

Second, newsrooms will have to cultivate long-form reporters in earnest – again. These roles are essential to the crucial sustained journalism that can derail the collective gaslighting we’ve been increasingly subjected to. (Think of the long features that broke stories about Harvey Weinstein, Prince Andrew, and Ghislaine Maxwell.)

Third, reporters and their editors will have to get comfortable maintaining a respectable level of conflict with the power elite. Access journalism has slowly spread like a cancer in our practices, and has had a muffling and conspiratory effect on news institutions, some that would otherwise stand firm against threats from powerful people, corporations, and government entities.