In conversation with Michael Isikoff
"[January 6th] can be presented as an affirmation of American democracy, not the destruction of American democracy."
(Vox Editor-in-Chief Swati Sharma and Associated Press Executive Editor Julie Pace appear at a Collision 2022 panel moderated by Michael Isikoff/AP photo)
In June, Yahoo News’ Chief Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff moderated a panel at the Collision conference in Toronto called "Popping the Filter Bubble to Find Truth."
One of the main questions at the heart of the conversation zeroed in on why reporters were so reluctant to characterize former President Donald Trump’s falsehoods as lies, despite him bending the truth more than 30,000 times over the course of his presidency, according to The Washington Post. But as Isikoff explains, "Not every falsehood is a lie."
He would later tell me in a one-on-one interview that he tries to be very cautious about what he calls a "lie," explaining that he can only report on the facts—he can’t get inside the heads of his subjects.
Reflecting on the January 6th insurrection, the 70-year-old Isikoff says he has a glass-half-full perspective on the events. Despite all of the coordinated efforts to prevent the certification of the 2020 election by the Trump administration, there were many who refused to do Trump’s bidding—from state legislatures to secretaries of states, members of Congress, and judges who rejected dozens of lawsuits by the Trump administration to interfere with the election results.
"The story can be presented as an affirmation of American democracy, not the destruction of American democracy," Isikoff said.
Offering his thoughts on the January 6th Select Committee’s first hearing of the summer, one week after it aired in primetime, Isikoff called the testimony "pretty compelling."
"It looks much more like a larger criminal conspiracy than I think even many of us who have been following this from the beginning, didn't fully appreciate how serious and extensive it was," Isikoff said of Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
But Isikoff didn’t completely agree with the way the committee went about their hearing, saying he doesn’t like the idea of making a charge without immediately backing it up with evidence. He’s also not a fan of the sound-bite-esque clips from committee depositions played during the hearings while hours of testimony remain sealed.
On Russian Roulette
Isikoff, along with co-author David Corn, published the book Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump in 2018. But Isikoff is more widely known as a reporter at the heart of reporting on then-President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, a west wing intern who was nearly 30 years younger than him.
Looking back on Russian Roulette, there isn’t much Isikoff says he would do differently. But there is one aspect of the Trump-Russia scandal that he believes should’ve been fully appreciated earlier: the authenticity of the Steele dossier.
"I think we had some hints of that in Russian Roulette," he told me. Isikoff was critical of former MI6 agent Christopher Steele’s lack of confidence in his most serious allegations and continues to be critical of political reporters who took the Steele dossier as gospel.
On the future of journalism
Isikoff has some advice for reporters covering the midterms in the age of disinformation: call out falsehoods, stick to the facts, and most importantly, do it in a dispassionate way.
"Not like you're scoring a political point, not like you're a cable TV pundit, not rousing up your audience to jack up your ratings," he said, pointing out that cable news’ refusal to provide nuanced reporting is contributing to the erosion of media credibility.
As for the future of journalism, Isikoff believes it will be important for the industry to find new and creative ways to meet audiences where they are at, whether it’s through a podcast or a Substack newsletter (like The Blueprint).
"We’re in a constantly evolving media environment," he said. But, he added, it’s one currently plagued by a "meteor shower" of disinformation campaigns.
"Stay in your lane and do the right thing. A lot of people are going to get misinformed. A lot of people are going to respond in unfortunate ways, but I am very much a believer in the need to hold all sides accountable."
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