Ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt sought a clear break from his predecessor’s policies, the first 100 days of a presidential term has been a marker that elicits a flood of media analysis, including photo features highlighting what editors judge to be the top images of the new era.
In this event, we will speak with Dr. Michael Shaw, a renowned analyst of American news imagery and publisher of Reading the Pictures. However, given the authoritarian and autocratic nature of the Trump administration’s assault on democratic norms, freedom of the press, the rule of law, and the separation of powers, this edit will look different than the others you will likely see in the media.
This discussion will focus on images that serve as a counterpoint to, or defiance of, the normalization of the extreme and often unlawful actions taken by the Trump administration that have fomented a constitutional crisis. These news photographs, especially those posted on social media, editorialize the administration’s actions. These photographs provide a critical perspective on the destruction of established values and institutions, prompting a deeper examination of political actions and the anger, disbelief, and fear that has emerged for many in response to what the administration is doing.
The discussion will also reflect on the administration’s information strategy of inundating the media with information – especially through the proliferation of Executive Orders – as a means to potentially overwhelming the press’s capacity to critically assess and more closely inspect the implications of each action.
