Russiagate Broke Media–President Trust

CJR’s retrospective argues that the press’s decade‑long pursuit of the Russia story—mixing scoops, the Steele dossier, Pulitzer prizes, and embarrassing retractions—did more than report a story: it created a feedback loop that convinced Trump a normal relationship with journalists was impossible and hardened mutual hostility. That rupture helps explain escalating media polarization, press‑avoidant political tactics, and why accountability stories now get filtered through partisan optics. — If true, this reframes news‑industry self‑critique as a central cause of today's distrust in institutions and explains why press corrections have limited effect on political polarization going into presidential campaigns.