- Determining America's Role in the World
With the public’s trust in the media at historic lows and the industry trying to adapt to changing information-gathering tastes, what does the future hold for a struggling “Fourth Estate” (tradition news outlets) and an incipient “Fifth Estate” (bloggers and social media)? David Shribman, a columnist, academic and two-time Pulitzer Prize recipient, examines a changed landscape of print media ceding dominance to cable news networks, which in turn compete against an even speedier (and more reckless) social media. Also discussed: the Washington Post’s travails and how the New York Times one-upped its competitors by winning minds (puzzles) and stomachs (more food content); the future of political journalism without President Trump to entertain (and boost viewership and readership); the extent of bias within journalists’ ranks; understanding community concerns by reading (and replying to) letters-to-the-editor; what aspiring journalists should study during their college years (read the Bible, Shakespeare and plenty of history).
Recorded on March 10, 2026.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
David Shribman is the executive editor emeritus of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Mr. Shribman began his career at the Buffalo Evening News and held a range of increasingly important positions at the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Star, and Boston Globe. He was assistant managing editor, columnist and Washington Bureau Chief for the Boston Globe when he was awarded the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for his analytical reporting on Washington developments and the national scene. He served as executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for sixteen years and led the coverage of the attack at the Tree of Life synagogue, for which the newspaper was awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting. During the 2019-2020 academic year, he served as the J.W. McConnell Professor of Practice at the Max Bell School of Public Policy of McGill University in Montreal. David is a syndicated columnist and also serves as a scholar-in-residence at Carnegie Mellon University.
Bill Whalen, the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Distinguished Policy Fellow in Journalism and a Hoover Institution research fellow since 1999, writes and comments on campaigns, elections, and governance with an emphasis on California and America’s political landscapes.
Whalen writes on politics and current events for various national publications, as well as Hoover’s California On Your Mind web channel.
Whalen hosts Hoover’s Matters of Policy & Politics podcast and serves as the moderator of Hoover’s GoodFellows broadcast exploring history, economics, and geopolitical dynamics.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Matters of Policy & Politics, a podcast from the Hoover Institution, examines the direction of federal, state, and local leadership and elections, with an occasional examination of national security and geopolitical concerns, all featuring insightful analysis provided by Hoover Institution scholars and guests.
To join our newsletter and be the first to tune into the next episode, visit Matters of Policy & Politics.
