Media Confidential

US election 2024: The final days

Pulitzer-winning journalist Steve Coll analyses the election, and Robert Kagan discusses his resignation from the Washington Post following a controversial decision 

October 31, 2024
article header image

Just days ahead of the US election, Alan and Lionel are joined by Steve Coll, a double Pulitzer prizewinner, senior editor at the Economist and former managing editor of the Washington Post.   

Steve reflects on one of the most fraught US elections in history, analysing how the candidates’ relationship with the media has changed and what a Trump win would look like.

Political scientist Robert Kagan also joins the podcast, in the aftermath of his resignation as editor-at-large at the Washington Post. Last week, the newspaper broke with five decades of convention and announced that it will no longer endorse presidential candidates. 

Robert discusses what he sees as an attempt by the Post’s owner Jeff Bezos “to curry favour with a likely Trump presidency”. But what does this mean for the newspaper whose slogan is “Democracy Dies in Darkness”?

To watch this interview, go to our YouTube channel, where Media Confidential is published every Friday morning.