"Why do I disparage the press? To discredit it and undermine its standing. So that when negative stories are written about me, no one will believe them."
Could there be a clearer explanation of why political power attacks the press? Branding unfavorable coverage as "fake news" and casting journalists as "enemies of the people." U.S. President Donald Trump's assaults on the media went beyond criticism — they were an attempt to destroy public trust in the news itself.
The newly published Korean edition of "Collision of Power" records the clashes between the press and political power during the Trump era, written by the author who served as executive editor of The Washington Post from 2013 to 2021. From allegations of Russian interference in the presidential election to the attempt to impeach Trump, the refusal to concede the 2020 election and the Capitol riot, the book revives the behind-the-scenes reporting on events that shook recent American politics, seen through an insider's eyes.
The book focuses less on the triumphs of scoops than on how news gets made. It vividly lays out the judgments of reporters and editors as they verify the credibility of sources and weigh the public interest of a story against the risk of litigation, along with the pressure applied through direct complaints from the president and through the newspaper's owner. The passage on how the business interests of Amazon, owned by Jeff Bezos, became a lever of political pressure shows just how fragile press independence can be when caught between political power and capital.
The author does not paint an idealized picture of journalism. Through disputes over reporting on the private lives of public figures, questions of free expression and conflicts over the responsibilities of the newsroom, he also exposes the ethical dilemmas within the profession. At the same time, he consistently argues that objectivity does not mean treating every claim as equally valid, but rather judging facts according to the evidence, regardless of one's own beliefs.
Amid digital disruption and public distrust, the crisis facing the press cannot be explained by external attacks alone. The book revisits both the responsibility of the press to hold power accountable and the principles a newsroom must uphold. In an era when it is hard to know what to believe, it is a reminder that press independence is not a concern for news organizations alone, but a condition for protecting citizens' right to know and for safeguarding democracy. "We're not at war with the government. We're doing our job." The author's argument — that the weapon the press wields against power is not political slogans but facts gathered and verified through reporting — carries all the more weight for it. Priced at 32,000 won.